By Lewis of Orange H.B. No. 1602
76R5330 MI-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the exclusion of land or other property from a district
1-3 with outstanding bond debt.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter J, Chapter 49, Water Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Section 49.315 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 49.315. EXCLUSION OF LAND WITH OUTSTANDING BOND DEBT.
1-8 (a) A landowner or other property owner in a district with
1-9 outstanding bonds, warrants, or other certificates of indebtedness
1-10 secured in part by the land or other property may petition the
1-11 district to exclude the owner's land or other property. A petition
1-12 must:
1-13 (1) be in writing and filed with the secretary of the
1-14 board;
1-15 (2) describe by metes and bounds or lot and block
1-16 number any land to be excluded;
1-17 (3) describe any property other than land to be
1-18 excluded; and
1-19 (4) state clearly the particular grounds under
1-20 Subsection (b) on which exclusion is sought.
1-21 (b) Exclusion of land or other property under this section
1-22 may be made only on the grounds that:
1-23 (1) the district has never provided utility service to
1-24 the land or other property;
2-1 (2) the district has discontinued utility service to
2-2 the land or other property;
2-3 (3) the cost of providing service to the land or other
2-4 property makes any service offered by the district so prohibitively
2-5 expensive that it effectively constitutes denial of service; or
2-6 (4) for a commercial development or a residential
2-7 development with lot sizes of less than two acres, the cost of
2-8 obtaining service from the district makes the development
2-9 economically infeasible but not necessarily prohibitively
2-10 expensive.
2-11 (c) The board shall consider all engineering data and other
2-12 evidence presented and determine if the facts support an
2-13 affirmative finding on the grounds alleged for exclusion. If the
2-14 board finds in the affirmative, the board shall enter an order
2-15 excluding the land or other property and redefining the boundaries
2-16 of the district to reflect the exclusion. Not later than the 30th
2-17 day after the date of the board's order under this section, the
2-18 board shall:
2-19 (1) submit a copy of the exclusion order and a
2-20 detailed description of the land or other property excluded to the
2-21 executive director of the commission; and
2-22 (2) file a copy of the exclusion order in the deed
2-23 records of the county or counties in which the district is
2-24 situated.
2-25 (d) The exclusion of land or other property under this
2-26 section does not impair the rights of the holders of any
2-27 outstanding bonds, warrants, or other certificates of indebtedness
3-1 of the district.
3-2 (e) Excluded land or other property pledged as security for
3-3 any outstanding debt of the district remains pledged for its pro
3-4 rata share of that debt until final payment is made. The district
3-5 shall continue to levy and collect taxes on the excluded property
3-6 at the same rate levied on property remaining in the district until
3-7 the amount of taxes collected from the excluded property equals the
3-8 pro rata share of the district's debt outstanding at the time the
3-9 property was excluded attributable to the excluded property. The
3-10 taxes collected on the excluded property shall be applied only to
3-11 the payment of the excluded property's pro rata share of that debt.
3-12 (f) The owner of any part of the excluded land or other
3-13 property at any time may pay in full the owner's share of the pro
3-14 rata share of the district's debt outstanding at the time the
3-15 property is excluded.
3-16 (g) After any land or other property is excluded under this
3-17 section, the district may issue any unissued additional debt
3-18 approved by the voters of the district before exclusion without
3-19 holding a new election. Additional debt issued after property is
3-20 excluded from the district may not be payable from and does not
3-21 create a lien against the taxable value of the excluded property.
3-22 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-1 passage, and it is so enacted.