H.B. No. 2740
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the service area for operation of a municipal drainage
1-3 system and collection of drainage charges.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 402.044(8), Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (8) "Service area" means the municipal boundaries and
1-8 any other land areas outside the municipal boundaries which, as a
1-9 result of topography or hydraulics, contribute overland flow into
1-10 the watersheds served by the drainage system of a municipality;
1-11 provided, however, that in no event may a service area extend
1-12 farther than the boundaries of a municipality's current
1-13 extraterritorial jurisdiction, nor, except as provided by Section
1-14 402.0451, may a service area of one municipality extend into the
1-15 boundaries of another incorporated town, city, or municipality.
1-16 The service area is to be established in the ordinance establishing
1-17 the drainage utility. Provided, that no municipality shall extend
1-18 a service area outside of its municipal boundaries except a
1-19 municipality of more than 400,000 population located in one or more
1-20 counties of less than 600,000 population according to the most
1-21 recent federal census or except as provided by Section 402.0451.
1-22 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 402, Local Government Code,
1-23 is amended by adding Section 402.0451 to read as follows:
1-24 Sec. 402.0451. EXTENSION OF SERVICE AREA BY CERTAIN
2-1 MUNICIPALITIES. (a) A municipality with a population of more than
2-2 900,000 located in one or more counties with a population of less
2-3 than 1.5 million as of the 1990 federal census may extend its
2-4 service area:
2-5 (1) into the boundaries of another municipality if:
2-6 (A) before the extension water from the
2-7 municipality to which the service area is to be extended regularly
2-8 drains into the drainage system of the municipality extending its
2-9 service area; and
2-10 (B) the extension is provided for by an
2-11 interlocal agreement between the municipalities; or
2-12 (2) beyond its municipal boundaries into an
2-13 unincorporated area of its extraterritorial jurisdiction if:
2-14 (A) before the extension water from the area to
2-15 which the service area is to be extended regularly drains into the
2-16 drainage system of the municipality extending its service area; and
2-17 (B) the extension is provided for by an
2-18 interlocal agreement between the municipality extending its service
2-19 area and the county containing the area to which the service area
2-20 is to be extended.
2-21 (b) An interlocal agreement under Subsection (a) may:
2-22 (1) contain provisions necessary for the operation of
2-23 a drainage system within the area to which the service area is
2-24 extended; and
2-25 (2) provide for charges for treatment of drainage
2-26 water and methods of assessment of the charges to an owner of a lot
2-27 or tract of benefitted property in the area to which the service
3-1 area is extended.
3-2 (c) Charges and methods of assessment agreed to under
3-3 Subsection (b)(2) must comply with Section 402.047.
3-4 SECTION 3. Section 402.053(c), Local Government Code, is
3-5 amended to read as follows:
3-6 (c) The following shall be exempt from the provisions of any
3-7 rules or ordinances adopted by a municipality pursuant to this Act:
3-8 (1) property with proper construction and maintenance
3-9 of a wholly sufficient and privately owned drainage system;
3-10 (2) property held and maintained in its natural state,
3-11 until such time that the property is developed and all of the
3-12 public infrastructure constructed has been accepted by the
3-13 municipality in which the property is located for maintenance; and
3-14 (3) a subdivided lot, until a structure has been built
3-15 on the lot and a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the
3-16 municipality in which the property is located <having jurisdiction
3-17 to adopt this subchapter and declare the drainage of the
3-18 municipality to be a public utility>.
3-19 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-25 passage, and it is so enacted.