1-1 By: Junell (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 3368
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1997;
1-3 May 6, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 13, Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the acquisition of real property by the General
1-9 Services Commission as an alternative to leasing space.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 2166.453, Government Code, is amended to
1-12 read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 2166.453. ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY [EXISTING
1-14 BUILDING] AS ALTERNATIVE TO LEASING SPACE. (a) This section
1-15 applies only to meeting [office] space needs of one or more state
1-16 agencies in a county in which the state leases 50,000 square feet
1-17 or more of [usable office] space.
1-18 (b) The commission may meet [office] space needs of one or
1-19 more state agencies that are being met through leased space by
1-20 purchasing or constructing one or more [existing] buildings under
1-21 this section. The purchase or construction of a building may
1-22 include the purchase of the building's grounds and related
1-23 improvements. The purchase or construction of a building under
1-24 this section must be:
1-25 (1) financed through bonds issued by the Texas Public
1-26 Finance Authority; and
1-27 (2) approved by the legislature if it is in session or
1-28 by the Legislative Budget Board if the legislature is not in
1-29 session.
1-30 (c) The commission may purchase or construct a building
1-31 under this section only if the commission determines that the
1-32 projected annual total space occupancy costs of the purchased or
1-33 constructed space will not exceed, over the term of the bonded
1-34 indebtedness, the projected annual total space occupancy costs of
1-35 meeting the same space needs through leased space.
1-36 (d) If the commission makes the necessary determination
1-37 under Subsection (c) and the purchase or construction is approved
1-38 under Subsection (b), the Texas Public Finance Authority shall
1-39 issue and sell bonds to finance the purchase or construction under
1-40 the Texas Public Finance Authority Act (Article 601d, Vernon's
1-41 Texas Civil Statutes), and the commission may purchase or construct
1-42 the building under that Act and other applicable law.
1-43 (e) The limitation prescribed by Section 9, Texas Public
1-44 Finance Authority Act (Article 601d, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-45 Statutes), relating to the location of a building for which bonds
1-46 may be issued and sold does not apply to financing the purchase or
1-47 construction of a building under this section.
1-48 (f) A person from whom real property or an existing building
1-49 or other improvement is purchased under this section shall provide
1-50 to the commission the name and the last known address of each
1-51 person who:
1-52 (1) owns record legal title to the real property or
1-53 building or other improvement; or
1-54 (2) owns a beneficial interest in the real property or
1-55 building or other improvement through a trust, nominee, agent, or
1-56 other legal entity.
1-57 (g) If a state agency vacates leased space to move into
1-58 space in a building purchased or constructed under this section or
1-59 if the leased space itself is purchased under this section, the
1-60 money specifically appropriated by the legislature or the money
1-61 available to and budgeted by the agency for lease payments for the
1-62 leased space for the remainder of the biennium may be used only for
1-63 rental or installment payments for the purchased or constructed
1-64 space under Section 12(b), Texas Public Finance Authority Act
2-1 (Article 601d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and for the payment
2-2 of operating expenses for the purchased or constructed space that
2-3 are incurred by the commission. The comptroller may adopt rules
2-4 for the administration of this subsection.
2-5 (h) In this section, "total space occupancy costs" include:
2-6 (1) for leased space, the direct cost of the lease
2-7 payments for the space;
2-8 (2) for purchased or constructed space, the direct
2-9 cost of rental or installment payments for the space under Section
2-10 12(b), Texas Public Finance Authority Act (Article 601d, Vernon's
2-11 Texas Civil Statutes);
2-12 (3) the cost of necessary renovations;
2-13 (4) operating costs, including janitorial and utility
2-14 costs; and
2-15 (5) for purchased or constructed space, the cost of
2-16 maintaining a cash replacement reserve sufficient to service
2-17 structural maintenance requirements reflecting the expected
2-18 performance life of the major capital expense items of the building
2-19 for the term of the bonded indebtedness.
2-20 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-26 * * * * *