74R8970 JJT-F
By Brimer, Crabb H.B. No. 546
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 546:
By Yost C.S.H.B. No. 546
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the exclusion of unserved property from certain water
1-3 conservation and reclamation districts.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 50, Water Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter N to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER N. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN UNSERVED PROPERTY
1-8 Sec. 50.501. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only to
1-9 a district that:
1-10 (1) provides potable or treated water supply services
1-11 or wastewater services; and
1-12 (2) imposes a tax on property in the district.
1-13 Sec. 50.502. PETITION FOR EXCLUSION OF UNSERVED PROPERTY.
1-14 (a) The owner of property in a district on which the district has
1-15 imposed a tax but to which the district does not provide services
1-16 may petition the board to exclude the property from the district
1-17 if:
1-18 (1) the owner or the owner's predecessor in interest
1-19 has requested the district to provide services to the property and
1-20 the district has declined to provide services; and
1-21 (2) all taxes the district has levied and assessed
1-22 against the property and all fees and assessments the district has
1-23 imposed against the property or the owner that are due and payable
1-24 on or before the date of the petition are fully paid.
2-1 (b) The owner must send the petition to the district's main
2-2 office by certified mail.
2-3 Sec. 50.503. CONTENT OF PETITION. The petition for
2-4 exclusion must:
2-5 (1) state that the property owner desires the
2-6 district's services and that the district has declined to provide
2-7 the services to the property;
2-8 (2) accurately describe real property to be excluded
2-9 by its metes and bounds or by lot and block if there is a recorded
2-10 map or plat and survey of the property;
2-11 (3) describe for identification other property to be
2-12 excluded; and
2-13 (4) include any other information the district
2-14 requires.
2-15 Sec. 50.504. ACTION ON PETITION; ENFORCEMENT. (a) The
2-16 board shall consider a petition for exclusion of property as an
2-17 application for services. Not later than the 35th day after the
2-18 date of receipt of the petition the board shall decide whether to
2-19 provide the services to the petitioner's property or grant the
2-20 petition for exclusion.
2-21 (b) If the board decides not to provide the services, not
2-22 later than the 35th day after the date of receipt of the petition
2-23 the board shall grant the petition for exclusion and issue an order
2-24 excluding the property. The order takes effect immediately. An
2-25 order to exclude property must:
2-26 (1) identify the property that is the subject of the
2-27 petition;
3-1 (2) redefine the boundaries of the district; and
3-2 (3) exclude the identified property.
3-3 (c) The board shall file for record a certified copy of the
3-4 order in the real property records of the county where the property
3-5 is located.
3-6 (d) If the board decides to provide the services in lieu of
3-7 excluding the property, not later than the 35th day after the date
3-8 of the decision, the board shall prepare and present to the
3-9 petitioner a plan and schedule for providing service to the
3-10 property, and the district shall begin operations to carry out the
3-11 plan not later than the 90th day after the date the plan is
3-12 presented.
3-13 (e) The petitioner may petition the commission to order the
3-14 board to exclude the property or carry out the plan for providing
3-15 service to the property if the board fails to meet a deadline
3-16 provided by Subsection (a), (b), or (d). The petition must be
3-17 filed on or before the 30th day after the date of the deadline that
3-18 was not met.
3-19 (f) The petitioner may appeal the board's decision to
3-20 provide service to the property by filing a petition with the
3-21 commission requesting that the commission order the board to
3-22 exclude the property from the district. The petition must be filed
3-23 on or before the 30th day after the date the board provides the
3-24 plan for providing service to the property. The board may suspend
3-25 its preparations or operations to carry out the plan pending
3-26 hearing on the appeal.
3-27 (g) On receipt of a petition under Subsection (e) or (f),
4-1 the commission shall order a hearing on the petition to be held not
4-2 later than the 60th day after the date of its receipt of the
4-3 petition. The commission shall give notice of the hearing as
4-4 provided by commission rule to all persons who may be affected by
4-5 the outcome of the hearing. The commission by rule may require a
4-6 petitioner to include with the petition a deposit in an amount
4-7 estimated to be sufficient to pay the costs of the notice.
4-8 (h) If the commission finds at a hearing on a petition filed
4-9 under Subsection (e) that the board has failed without good cause
4-10 to provide the petitioner with a plan for providing services or
4-11 fails to go forward in good faith with the implementation of the
4-12 plan adopted by the board, the commission shall order the board to
4-13 exclude the property.
4-14 (i) If the commission finds at a hearing on a petition filed
4-15 under Subsection (f) that the plan for providing services to the
4-16 property is unreasonable or impracticable, the commission shall
4-17 order the board to exclude the property from the district.
4-18 (j) A property owner who has filed a petition for exclusion
4-19 under this subchapter may bring suit in district court to order the
4-20 board to provide services or issue an order of exclusion in
4-21 accordance with the periods provided by this section if it appears
4-22 that the board is not complying with this section.
4-23 Sec. 50.505. EFFECT OF ORDER. (a) An order of exclusion
4-24 issued under this subchapter removes the identified property from
4-25 the jurisdiction of the district. The exclusion of the property
4-26 does not diminish or impair the rights of holders of any
4-27 outstanding and unpaid bonds, warrants, or other obligations of the
5-1 district.
5-2 (b) Property excluded under this subchapter is not released
5-3 from the payment of its pro rata share of the district's debt
5-4 existing on the date of the order of exclusion. The district shall
5-5 continue to levy taxes each year on the excluded property equal to
5-6 the property's share of the debt and the taxes collected shall be
5-7 applied exclusively to the payment of that debt. The owner of the
5-8 excluded property may at any time pay the debt in full without
5-9 penalty.
5-10 (c) The excluded property is not subject to any debt of the
5-11 district incurred after the date of the exclusion order.
5-12 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.