LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              April 9, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Gary Walker, Chair, House Committee on Land &
               Resource Management
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB 2659 by Krusee (Relating to the regulation of land
               development by a political subdivision that affects
               certain property in certain road districts.), As
               Introduced
  
**************************************************************************
*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
**************************************************************************
  
This analysis assumes that the term "political subdivision" refers to a
local government and therefore does not apply to any agency of the
state. If the term would apply to the state, the state could potentially
incur costs similar to those shown below for local governments.
  
Local Government Impact
  
Fiscal Analysis

The bill would prohibit a political subdivision from changing development
regulations in such a way that the amount of impervious cover or total
floor area allowed in land development would be reduced by more than 5
percent. This prohibition would apply to areas located within an
assessment road district or within 1,500 feet of such a road district.

The bill would also require that if a political subdivision would change
development regulations reducing the amount of impervious cover or total
floor area allowed on developed land by less than 5 percent, the
political subdivision would be required to pay the outstanding bonded
indebtedness of the assessment road district and pay all landowners
within the assessment road district any prepaid assessments on any part
of the land for which no building permit has been issued or no
improvement has been constructed.

Methodology

The bill would affect any political subdivision that has authority to
regulate impervious cover or allowable floor area relating to land
development. The bill could have a fiscal impact on cities that reduce
allowable impervious cover by requiring them to pay the outstanding debt
of the road district and prepaid assessments made by owners of
undeveloped land within the district.

Data on outstanding road district debt and the number of years such debt
has to maturity, as of August 31, 1998, was provided by the Comptroller's
office. According to the Comptroller, total outstanding bonded
indebtedness for 13 road districts is approximately $83 million, with the
amount for any single district ranging from $30,000 for the Pioneer
Trail County Road District 1 to $28,910,000 for the Woodlands Road
Utility District 1. The period remaining until road district bonds mature
ranges from 1 to 24 years. For the purposes of this analysis, the
outstanding debt was amortized for the given number of years to maturity
with an interest rate of 7 percent assumed. It is assumed that political
subdivisions would make annual payments on the debt, rather than
defeasing the debt immediately. If more than one political subdivision
were required to make payments to a road district, it is assumed that
those subdivisions would share the costs equally.

Fiscal Impact

If a political subdivisions would reduce allowable impervious cover or
floor area development regulations in the area within or adjacent to one
of the following areas, the political subdivision could be required to
make the following annual payments for the number of years specified:

Denton County Road Utility District 1, $1.6 million per year, 22 years
Fort Bend Parkway Road District, $168,000 per year, 12 years
Hidalgo County Road District 5, $304,000 per year, 2 years
Northeast Round Rock Road District 1, $768,000 per year, 20 years
Northwest Travis County Road District 3, $744,000 per year, 17 years
Pioneer Trail County Road District 1, $32,000, 1 year
Southeast Williamson County Road District, $325,000 per year, 14 years
Southwest Travis County Road District 1, $308,000 per year, 16 years
Southwest Williamson County Road District 1, $1.6 million per year, 12
years
Springlake Road District 1, $76,000 per year, 3 years
Stony Point Road District, $39,000 per year, 15 years
South Montgomery County Road District 1, $326,000 per year, 2 years
Woodlands Road Utility District 1, $2.5 million per year, 24 years

There could be additional costs associated with the bill's requirement
that political subdivisions provide reimburse landowners for prepaid
assessments. The cost would depend on the number of landowners within a
road district that have prepaid assessments on land for which no building
permit has been issued or no improvements constructed and the amount of
such assessments.
  
  
Source Agencies:   304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, DE, TL