By Truan                                              S.B. No. 1510
         76R2189 GJH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the eligibility of a property owner for a tax abatement
 1-3     agreement.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 312, Tax Code, is amended
 1-6     by adding Section 312.0025 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 312.0025.  ELIGIBILITY OF PROPERTY OWNER TO PARTICIPATE
 1-8     IN TAX ABATEMENT.  (a)  In this section, "county average weekly
 1-9     wage" means the average weekly wage paid by all employers in a
1-10     county that are covered by unemployment compensation insurance as
1-11     determined by the Texas Workforce Commission for the most recent
1-12     period for which data is available.
1-13           (b)  A property owner may not enter into a tax abatement
1-14     agreement under this chapter unless all of the full-time employees,
1-15     if any, who will be employed at the real property that is subject
1-16     to the abatement will be paid a wage that is not less than 125
1-17     percent of the county average weekly wage for the county in which
1-18     the real property is located.
1-19           SECTION 2.  Section 312.205(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
1-20     as follows:
1-21           (a)  An agreement made under Section 312.204 or 312.211 must:
1-22                 (1)  list the kind, number, and location of all
1-23     proposed improvements of the property;
1-24                 (2)  provide access to and authorize inspection of the
 2-1     property by municipal employees to ensure that the improvements or
 2-2     repairs are made according to the specifications and conditions of
 2-3     the agreement;
 2-4                 (3)  limit the uses of the property consistent with the
 2-5     general purpose of encouraging development or redevelopment of the
 2-6     zone during the period that property tax exemptions are in effect;
 2-7                 (4)  require the property owner to maintain eligibility
 2-8     under Section 312.0025;
 2-9                 (5)  provide for recapturing property tax revenue lost
2-10     as a result of the agreement if the owner of the property fails to
2-11     maintain eligibility under Section 312.0025 or fails to make the
2-12     improvements or repairs as provided by the agreement;
2-13                 (6) [(5)]  contain each term agreed to by the owner of
2-14     the property;
2-15                 (7) [(6)]  require the owner of the property to certify
2-16     annually to the governing body of each taxing unit that the owner
2-17     is in compliance with each applicable term of the agreement; and
2-18                 (8) [(7)]  provide that the governing body of the
2-19     municipality may cancel or modify the agreement if the property
2-20     owner fails to comply with the agreement.
2-21           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-22     applies only to a tax abatement agreement entered into on or after
2-23     that date.
2-24           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.