AN ACT
1-1 relating to the powers, duties, administration, financing, and
1-2 operation of the Falcon's Lair Utility and Reclamation District;
1-3 granting the authority to issue bonds.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 9, Chapter 935, Acts of the 69th
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1985, is amended by amending
1-7 Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
1-8 (f) After the confirmation and directors' election, a
1-9 regular directors' election shall be held on the first Tuesday
1-10 after the first Monday [Saturday] in November of [April in] each
1-11 odd-numbered [even-numbered] year to elect the appropriate number
1-12 of directors.
1-13 (h) The city may not be found liable for an act relating to
1-14 a district obligation or the operation of the district because of
1-15 an appointment of a director made by the city as prescribed by
1-16 Subsection (d) of this section.
1-17 SECTION 2. Section 19, Chapter 935, Acts of the 69th
1-18 Legislature, Regular Session, 1985, is amended by adding
1-19 Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
1-20 (d) For the payment of all or part of the costs of an
1-21 improvement project or services under Section 20A of this Act, the
1-22 board may issue bonds in one or more series payable from and
1-23 secured by ad valorem taxes, assessments, impact fees, revenues,
2-1 grants, gifts, contracts, or leases or any combination of those
2-2 funds. Bonds may be liens on all or part of the revenue derived
2-3 from improvements authorized under Section 20A of this Act,
2-4 including installment payments of special assessments or from any
2-5 other source pledged to their payment.
2-6 (e) Sections 375.202 through 375.206, Local Government Code,
2-7 apply to bonds issued under Subsection (d) of this section.
2-8 SECTION 3. Chapter 935, Acts of the 69th Legislature,
2-9 Regular Session, 1985, is amended by adding Section 19A to read as
2-10 follows:
2-11 Sec. 19A. OBLIGATIONS. (a) The principal amount of the
2-12 district's obligations that are payable from assessments imposed by
2-13 the district may be in an amount that does not exceed the aggregate
2-14 appraised value of the property in the district, as established by
2-15 an independent appraisal by a member of the Appraisal Institute.
2-16 (b) The appraised value of the property in the district
2-17 established for ad valorem tax purposes may not be considered a
2-18 limitation on the principal amount of the obligations that may be
2-19 issued by the district under Subsection (a) of this section.
2-20 (c) The city is not required to pay the principal of and
2-21 interest on an obligation issued by the district.
2-22 (d) In this section, "obligation" means a bond, note,
2-23 lease-purchase agreement, or installment sale obligation of the
2-24 district.
2-25 SECTION 4. Chapter 935, Acts of the 69th Legislature,
3-1 Regular Session, 1985, is amended by adding Section 20A to read as
3-2 follows:
3-3 Sec. 20A. ASSESSMENTS. (a) The board may undertake an
3-4 improvement project or service that confers a special benefit on
3-5 all or a definable part of the district.
3-6 (b) The board may levy and collect special assessments on
3-7 property in the area described by Subsection (a) of this section,
3-8 based on the benefit conferred by the improvement project or
3-9 service, to pay all or part of the cost of the project or service.
3-10 (c) An improvement project or service provided by the
3-11 district may include the acquisition, construction, or financing of
3-12 water, wastewater, or drainage facilities, streets, sidewalks, or
3-13 roadways.
3-14 (d) Sections 375.113 through 375.124, Local Government Code,
3-15 apply to the financing of an improvement project or service under
3-16 this subsection.
3-17 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 23, Chapter 935, Acts of
3-18 the 69th Legislature, Regular Session, 1985, is amended to read as
3-19 follows:
3-20 (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, to the
3-21 extent that the city considers it practical to do so, the city may
3-22 provide water supply and sewer services to residential retail
3-23 customers in the district and may provide water supply and
3-24 wastewater treatment services to the district, pursuant to mutually
3-25 agreeable contracts or otherwise. The district is responsible for
4-1 an off-site extension that is required to provide water supply and
4-2 sewer service[, on terms and conditions comparable to other
4-3 similarly situated customers within the city].
4-4 SECTION 6. The terms of the members of the board of
4-5 directors of the Falcon's Lair Utility and Reclamation District
4-6 serving on the effective date of this Act who were appointed by the
4-7 city council of the City of Mesquite, Texas, expire on the first
4-8 Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1997. The terms of the
4-9 remaining members of the board of directors of the Falcon's Lair
4-10 Utility and Reclamation District serving on the effective date of
4-11 this Act expire on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
4-12 November, 1999. Successor directors shall be elected or appointed
4-13 in the manner provided by Section 9, Chapter 935, Acts of the 69th
4-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1985, as amended by this Act.
4-15 SECTION 7. (a) The proper and legal notice of the intention
4-16 to introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
4-17 Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
4-18 copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
4-19 officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
4-20 by the constitution and other laws of this state, including the
4-21 governor, who has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Natural
4-22 Resource Conservation Commission.
4-23 (b) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission has
4-24 filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor,
4-25 lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
5-1 within the required time.
5-2 (c) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
5-3 state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
5-4 to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
5-5 and accomplished.
5-6 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
5-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-11 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-12 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1949 passed the Senate on
May 16, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 29, 1997, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1949 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 28, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 136,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor