S.B. No. 124
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of a municipality located in more than
1-2 one county to create an industrial development corporation, to levy
1-3 a sales and use tax, and to issue bonds.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Subsection (a), Section 4B,
1-6 Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas
1-7 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (1) "Eligible city" means a city:
1-9 (A) that is located wholly or partly in a county
1-10 with a population of 750,000 or more, according to the most recent
1-11 federal decennial census<;> and
1-12 <(B)> in which the combined rate of all sales
1-13 and use taxes imposed by the city, the state, and other political
1-14 subdivisions of the state having territory in the city does not
1-15 exceed 7.25 percent on the date of any election held under or made
1-16 applicable to this section; or
1-17 (B) that has a population of 150,000 or more,
1-18 according to the most recent federal decennial census, and that is
1-19 located in more than one county, and in which the combined rate of
1-20 all sales and use taxes imposed by the city, the state, and other
1-21 political subdivisions of the state having territory in the city,
1-22 including taxes under this section, does not exceed 8.25 percent.
1-23 SECTION 2. Subsections (c) and (f), Section 4B, Development
1-24 Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-1 Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
2-2 (c) The board of directors of a corporation under this
2-3 section consists of seven directors who are appointed by the
2-4 governing body of the eligible city for two-year terms of office.
2-5 A director may be removed by the governing body of the eligible
2-6 city at any time without cause. Each director must be a resident
2-7 of the eligible city. Three <At least four directors must be
2-8 persons who are members of the governing body of the eligible city,
2-9 and the remaining three> directors shall be persons who are not
2-10 employees, officers, or members of the governing body of the
2-11 eligible city. A majority of the entire membership of the board is
2-12 a quorum. The board shall conduct all meetings within the
2-13 boundaries of the eligible city. The board shall appoint a
2-14 president, a secretary, and other officers of the corporation that
2-15 the governing body of the eligible city considers necessary. The
2-16 corporation's registered agent must be an individual resident of
2-17 the state and the corporation's registered office must be within
2-18 the boundaries of the eligible city.
2-19 (f) Chapter 321, Tax Code, governs the imposition,
2-20 computation, administration, collection, and remittance of the tax
2-21 except as inconsistent with this section. The tax imposed under
2-22 this section takes effect as provided by Section 321.102(a), Tax
2-23 Code. If, however, an election is held under this section at the
2-24 same time an election is held to impose or change the rate of the
2-25 additional municipal sales and use tax, the tax under this section
2-26 and the imposition or change in rate of the additional municipal
2-27 sales and use tax take effect as provided by Section 321.102(b),
3-1 Tax Code. <Section 321.102(a), Tax Code, does not apply to the tax
3-2 imposed under this section. The ordinance under which the taxes
3-3 authorized by this section are levied must provide for the
3-4 effective date of the tax. That effective date must occur on the
3-5 first day of a month, which day may not be earlier than the 45th
3-6 day after the date of final action of the governing body in
3-7 adopting the ordinance or after the date of the election, whichever
3-8 is later. If the ordinance levying the tax is adopted after the
3-9 election, the presiding officer of the governing body shall, not
3-10 later than the 10th day after the date of the final action in
3-11 adopting the ordinance, send to the comptroller by certified mail a
3-12 copy of the ordinance. The tax is effective on the date specified
3-13 in the ordinance unless the comptroller, within 10 days after the
3-14 receipt of an ordinance sent under this subsection, notifies the
3-15 secretary of the municipality that more time is required, in which
3-16 case the effective date of the application of the tax is the first
3-17 day of the first calendar quarter after the expiration of the first
3-18 complete calendar quarter occurring after the date on which the
3-19 comptroller receives the ordinance.> After the effective date of
3-20 the taxes imposed under this section, the adoption of a sales and
3-21 use tax or the attempted adoption of a sales and use tax by the
3-22 eligible city or any other taxing jurisdiction having territory in
3-23 the city does not impair the taxes imposed under this section.
3-24 SECTION 3. Subsection (i), Section 4A, Development
3-25 Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-26 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-27 (i) Except as provided by this subsection, the corporation
4-1 may not undertake a project the primary purpose of which is to
4-2 provide transportation facilities, solid waste disposal facilities,
4-3 or air or water pollution control facilities. However, the
4-4 corporation may provide those facilities to benefit property
4-5 acquired for a project having another primary purpose. The
4-6 corporation may undertake a municipal water supply project and
4-7 provide related transmission and treatment facilities connected
4-8 with a municipally owned or operated water system or sewage system.
4-9 The corporation may undertake a project the primary purpose of
4-10 which is to provide:
4-11 (1) a general aviation business service airport that
4-12 is an integral part of an industrial park; <or>
4-13 (2) port-related facilities to support waterborne
4-14 commerce; or
4-15 (3) any purpose authorized under Section 4B(a)(2) of
4-16 this Act, if the corporation is in a city that is located wholly on
4-17 an island that is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and is within 35
4-18 miles of the Republic of Mexico or if the corporation is in a city
4-19 that is located adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and has a population
4-20 of more than 250,000 according to the most recent federal decennial
4-21 census.
4-22 SECTION 4. Subsection (e), Section 25, Development
4-23 Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-24 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
4-25 (e) The principal of and interest on any bonds issued by the
4-26 corporation shall be secured by a pledge of the revenues and
4-27 receipts derived by the corporation from the lease or sale of the
5-1 project so financed or from the loan made by the corporation with
5-2 respect to the project so financed or refinanced and may be secured
5-3 by a mortgage covering all or any part of such project, including
5-4 any enlargements of and additions to such project thereafter made.
5-5 The resolution under which the bonds are authorized to be issued
5-6 and any such mortgage may contain any agreements and provisions
5-7 respecting the maintenance of the project covered thereby, the
5-8 fixing and collection of rents, purchase price payments or loan
5-9 payments, the creation and maintenance of special funds from such
5-10 revenues and the rights and remedies available in the event of
5-11 default, all as the board of directors shall deem advisable and not
5-12 in conflict with the provisions hereof. The resolution under which
5-13 the bonds are authorized to be issued and the mortgage may contain
5-14 any agreements and provisions for satisfying the financial
5-15 assurance requirements applicable to a project for which a permit
5-16 is required under Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, or Chapter
5-17 27, Water Code, including those relating to construction, proper
5-18 operation, liability coverage, emergency response capability, well
5-19 plugging, closure, and postclosure care. Evidence of the passage
5-20 of a resolution by a governing body approving or agreeing to
5-21 approve the issuance of bonds for the purpose of satisfying the
5-22 financial assurance requirements applicable to such a project is an
5-23 adequate demonstration that sufficient financial resources will be
5-24 available to comply with all existing financial assurance
5-25 requirements. Each pledge, agreement, and mortgage made for the
5-26 benefit or security of any of the bonds of the corporation shall
5-27 continue effective until the principal of and interest on the bonds
6-1 for the benefit for which the same were made have been fully paid.
6-2 SECTION 5. Subsection (n), Section 4A, Development
6-3 Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-4 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
6-5 (n) At an election called and held under Subsection (d) or
6-6 (o) of this section, the city may also allow the voters to vote on
6-7 a ballot proposition that limits the length of time that a sales
6-8 and use tax may be imposed. If a city elects to limit the period
6-9 the sales and use tax may be imposed, there shall be added to the
6-10 end of the ballot proposition prescribed by Subsection (m) of this
6-11 section: "to be imposed for ________ years" (the number of years
6-12 to be inserted as appropriate). The governing body of the city
6-13 shall set the expiration date of the proposed tax to occur on the
6-14 appropriate anniversary of the effective date of the tax. A sales
6-15 and use tax imposed for a limited period under this subsection
6-16 expires on the date set by the governing body under this section or
6-17 on an earlier date if, by a majority of the voters voting in an
6-18 election held in the city, the tax is repealed. If an earlier
6-19 abolition election is held, Sections 321.102(a) and 321.402(b), Tax
6-20 Code, apply to the date of repeal. A tax that is approved without
6-21 a limit on its period of imposition is effective until repealed by
6-22 election. Before the 60th day before the date that a tax is to
6-23 expire, the governing body shall send a notice to the comptroller
6-24 stating the expiration date of the tax. Revenue collected after
6-25 the expiration of the tax from the imposition of the tax after its
6-26 expiration date shall be retained by the state for state purposes
6-27 and deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund if the tax
7-1 revenue cannot be returned to the purchaser of taxable items on
7-2 which the tax was paid. A municipality that has imposed a tax
7-3 under this section may not extend the period of the tax's
7-4 imposition or reimpose the tax after its expiration date. If a
7-5 city reduces the rate of an additional sales and use tax under
7-6 Chapter 321, Tax Code, to impose a tax under this section for a
7-7 limited period as provided under this subsection, and does not have
7-8 an election to change the rate of the additional sales and use tax
7-9 before the expiration date of the tax under this section, the rate
7-10 of the additional sales and use tax under Section 321.101(b), Tax
7-11 Code, in the city returns to its previous rate in effect at the
7-12 time the tax imposed under this section was adopted on the
7-13 expiration date of the tax under this section without having to
7-14 hold an election under Chapter 321, Tax Code, to impose the
7-15 increase in the rate. In addition, whether or not a time limit is
7-16 imposed, at an election called and held under Subsections (d) and
7-17 (o) of this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to
7-18 prevent the city from also allowing the voters to vote on a ballot
7-19 proposition that describes and limits, generally or specifically,
7-20 the project or projects for which the proceeds of the sales and use
7-21 tax may be used.
7-22 SECTION 6. This Act does not affect:
7-23 (1) a matter involved in litigation that is pending on
7-24 the effective date of this Act; or
7-25 (2) a dispute in relation to property that is the
7-26 subject of an eminent domain proceeding on the effective date of
7-27 this Act.
8-1 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
8-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-6 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-7 passage, and it is so enacted.