76R13497 DRH-D
By Seaman H.B. No. 2814
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2814:
By Alexander C.S.H.B. No. 2814
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to funding for certain causeways or bridges.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
1-5 is amended by adding Section 502.1725 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 502.1725. OPTIONAL COUNTY FEE FOR CERTAIN CAUSEWAYS OR
1-7 BRIDGES. (a) The commissioners court of a county that borders the
1-8 Gulf of Mexico may impose an additional fee, not to exceed $2, for
1-9 registering a vehicle in the county.
1-10 (b) A vehicle that may be registered under this chapter
1-11 without payment of a registration fee may be registered in a county
1-12 imposing a fee under this section without payment of the additional
1-13 fee.
1-14 (c) A fee imposed under this section may take effect only on
1-15 January 1 of a year. The county must adopt the order and notify
1-16 the department not later than September 1 of the year preceding the
1-17 year in which the fee takes effect.
1-18 (d) The county assessor-collector of a county imposing a fee
1-19 under this section shall collect the additional fee for a vehicle
1-20 when other fees imposed under this chapter are collected.
1-21 (e) Revenue from a fee imposed under this section shall be
1-22 deposited in a special fund in the county treasury that may be used
1-23 only to pay for the costs of:
1-24 (1) imposing the fee under this section; or
2-1 (2) construction, improvement, or maintenance of a
2-2 causeway or bridge in the county between the mainland and a barrier
2-3 island.
2-4 (f) The causeway or bridge described by Subsection (e) may
2-5 be owned by the county or the department.
2-6 (g) A fee imposed under this section expires when the
2-7 commissioners court determines that the cost of the causeway or
2-8 bridge project has been paid. The expiration takes effect on
2-9 January 1 of the year following the year the commissioners court
2-10 makes the determination. The commissioners court shall notify the
2-11 department not later than December 1 of the year preceding the year
2-12 in which the expiration takes effect.
2-13 (h) The department shall adopt rules and develop forms
2-14 necessary to administer registration by mail for a vehicle being
2-15 registered in a county imposing a fee under this section.
2-16 (i) This section does not apply to a vehicle that, under
2-17 this chapter, must be registered directly with the department.
2-18 SECTION 2. Section 311.005(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
2-19 as follows:
2-20 (a) To be designated as a reinvestment zone, an area must:
2-21 (1) substantially arrest or impair the sound growth of
2-22 the municipality creating the zone, retard the provision of housing
2-23 accommodations, or constitute an economic or social liability and
2-24 be a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its
2-25 present condition and use because of the presence of:
2-26 (A) a substantial number of substandard, slum,
2-27 deteriorated, or deteriorating structures;
3-1 (B) the predominance of defective or inadequate
3-2 sidewalk or street layout;
3-3 (C) faulty lot layout in relation to size,
3-4 adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness;
3-5 (D) unsanitary or unsafe conditions;
3-6 (E) the deterioration of site or other
3-7 improvements;
3-8 (F) tax or special assessment delinquency
3-9 exceeding the fair value of the land;
3-10 (G) defective or unusual conditions of title; or
3-11 (H) conditions that endanger life or property by
3-12 fire or other cause;
3-13 (2) be predominantly open and, because of obsolete
3-14 platting, deterioration of structures or site improvements, or
3-15 other factors, substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of
3-16 the municipality; [or]
3-17 (3) be in a federally assisted new community located
3-18 in the municipality or in an area immediately adjacent to a
3-19 federally assisted new community;
3-20 (4) be located on or adjacent to a barrier island on
3-21 the Gulf of Mexico and be primarily undeveloped or underdeveloped;
3-22 or
3-23 (5) be an area described in a petition requesting that
3-24 the area be designated as a reinvestment zone, if the petition is
3-25 submitted to the governing body of the municipality by the owners
3-26 of property constituting at least 50 percent of the appraised value
3-27 of the property in the area according to the most recent certified
4-1 appraisal roll for the county in which the area is located.
4-2 SECTION 3. Section 311.006, Tax Code, is amended by adding
4-3 Subsection (f) to read as follows:
4-4 (f) Subsection (a) does not apply to a reinvestment zone
4-5 designated under Section 311.005(a)(4).
4-6 SECTION 4. Section 311.008(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
4-7 as follows:
4-8 (a) A municipality may exercise any power necessary and
4-9 convenient to carry out this chapter, including the power to:
4-10 (1) cause project plans to be prepared, approve and
4-11 implement the plans, and otherwise achieve the purposes of the
4-12 plan;
4-13 (2) acquire real property by purchase, condemnation,
4-14 or other means to implement project plans and sell that property on
4-15 the terms and conditions and in the manner it considers advisable;
4-16 (3) enter into agreements, including agreements with
4-17 bondholders, determined by the governing body of the municipality
4-18 to be necessary or convenient to implement project plans and
4-19 achieve their purposes, which agreements may include conditions,
4-20 restrictions, or covenants that run with the land or that by other
4-21 means regulate or restrict the use of land; and
4-22 (4) consistent with the project plan for the zone:
4-23 (A) acquire blighted, deteriorated,
4-24 deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately developed real
4-25 property or other property in a blighted area or in a federally
4-26 assisted new community in the zone for the preservation or
4-27 restoration of historic sites, beautification or conservation, the
5-1 provision of public works or public facilities, or other public
5-2 purposes; or
5-3 (B) acquire, construct, reconstruct, or install
5-4 public works, facilities, or sites or other public improvements,
5-5 including utilities, streets, street lights, bridges, causeways,
5-6 water and sewer facilities, pedestrian malls and walkways, parks,
5-7 flood and drainage facilities, educational facilities, or parking
5-8 facilities.
5-9 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-15 passage, and it is so enacted.