AN ACT
1-1 relating to the reimbursement of landowners or developers prior to
1-2 annexation of a water-related special district.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 43.0715, Local Government Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 43.0715. Annexation of Water-Related Special District:
1-7 Reimbursement of Landowner or Developer; Continuation of District
1-8 and Taxing Authority. (a) In this section:
1-9 (1) "Special[, "special] district" means a political
1-10 subdivision one purpose of which is to supply fresh water for
1-11 domestic or commercial use or to furnish sanitary sewer services or
1-12 drainage.
1-13 (2) "Delinquent sum" means the sum a municipality has
1-14 failed to timely pay to a landowner or developer under Subsection
1-15 (b).
1-16 (b) If a municipality with a population of less than 1.5
1-17 million annexes a special district for full or limited purposes and
1-18 the annexation precludes or impairs the ability of the district to
1-19 issue bonds, the municipality shall, prior to the effective date of
1-20 [simultaneously with] the annexation, pay in cash to the landowner
1-21 or developer of the district a sum equal to all actual costs and
1-22 expenses incurred by the landowner or developer in connection with
1-23 the district that the district has, in writing, agreed to pay and
1-24 that would otherwise have been eligible for reimbursement from bond
2-1 proceeds under the rules and requirements of the Texas Natural
2-2 Resource Conservation Commission as such rules and requirements
2-3 exist on the date of annexation. For an annexation that is subject
2-4 to preclearance by a federal authority, a payment will be
2-5 considered timely if the municipality: (i) escrows the
2-6 reimbursable amounts determined in accordance with Subsection (c)
2-7 prior to the effective date of the annexation; and
2-8 (ii) subsequently causes the escrowed funds and accrued interest to
2-9 be disbursed to the developer within five business days after the
2-10 municipality receives notice of the preclearance.
2-11 (c) At the time notice of the municipality's intent to annex
2-12 the land within the district is first published in accordance with
2-13 Section 43.052, the municipality shall proceed to initiate and
2-14 complete a report for each developer conducted in accordance with
2-15 the format approved by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
2-16 Commission for audits. In the event the municipality is unable to
2-17 complete the report prior to the effective date of the annexation
2-18 as a result of the developer's failure to provide information to
2-19 the municipality which cannot be obtained from other sources, the
2-20 municipality shall obtain from the district the estimated costs of
2-21 each project previously undertaken by a developer which are
2-22 eligible for reimbursement. The amount of such costs, as estimated
2-23 by the district, shall be escrowed by the municipality for the
2-24 benefit of the persons entitled to receive payment in an insured
2-25 interest-bearing account with a financial institution authorized to
2-26 do business in the state. To compensate the developer for the
3-1 municipality's use of the infrastructure facilities pending the
3-2 determination of the reimbursement amount or federal preclearance,
3-3 all interest accrued on the escrowed funds shall be paid to the
3-4 developer whether or not the annexation is valid. Upon placement
3-5 of the funds in the escrow account, the annexation may become
3-6 effective. In the event a municipality timely escrows all
3-7 estimated reimbursable amounts as required by this subsection and
3-8 all such amounts, determined to be owed, including interest, are
3-9 subsequently disbursed to the developer within five days of final
3-10 determination in immediately available funds as required by this
3-11 section, no penalties or interest shall accrue during the pendency
3-12 of the escrow. Either the municipality or developer may, by
3-13 written notice to the other party, require disputes regarding the
3-14 amount owed under this section to be subject to nonbinding
3-15 arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American
3-16 Arbitration Association.
3-17 (d) A delinquent sum incurs a penalty of six percent of the
3-18 amount of the sum for the first calendar month it is delinquent
3-19 plus one percent for each additional month or portion of a month
3-20 the sum remains unpaid. For an annexation occurring prior to the
3-21 effective date of the changes in law made by this Act in amending
3-22 Subsection (b), a delinquent sum begins incurring a penalty on the
3-23 first day of the eighth month following the month in which the
3-24 municipality enacted its annexation ordinance. For an annexation
3-25 occurring after the effective date of this Act, a delinquent sum
3-26 begins incurring a penalty on the first day after the date the
4-1 municipality enacts its annexation ordinance.
4-2 SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
4-3 Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d), Section 43.0715, Local
4-4 Government Code, apply to any sum that is delinquent on the
4-5 effective date of this Act.
4-6 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-11 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-12 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 262 passed the Senate on
March 11, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 21, 1999, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 262 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 19, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 139,
Nays 5, one present not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor