By Craddick                                           H.B. No. 1070
         77R3284 MI-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the authority of certain landowners to connect their
 1-3     property to various municipal facilities, including water and sewer
 1-4     facilities.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1. Section 395.081, Local Government Code, is amended
 1-7     to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 395.081.  FEES FOR ADJOINING LANDOWNERS IN CERTAIN
 1-9     MUNICIPALITIES. (a)  In this section, "capital improvement"
1-10     includes a sewer line, water line, drainage facility, or roadway
1-11     facility from a municipality to a development located inside or
1-12     outside the municipality's boundaries.
1-13           (b)  This section applies only to a municipality with a
1-14     population of 115,000 [105,000] or less that constitutes more than
1-15     three-fourths of the population of the county in which the majority
1-16     of the area of the municipality is located.
1-17           (c) [(b)]  A municipality that has not adopted an impact fee
1-18     under this chapter [that is constructing a capital improvement,
1-19     including sewer or waterline or drainage or roadway facilities,
1-20     from the municipality to a development located within or outside
1-21     the municipality's boundaries,] in its discretion[,] may allow a
1-22     landowner whose land adjoins an existing or proposed [the] capital
1-23     improvement or is within a specified distance from an existing or
1-24     proposed [the] capital improvement, as determined by the governing
 2-1     body of the municipality, to connect to the capital improvement if:
 2-2                 (1)  the governing body of the municipality has adopted
 2-3     a finding under Subsection (d) [(c)]; and
 2-4                 (2)  the landowner agrees to pay a proportional share
 2-5     of the cost of the capital improvement as determined by the
 2-6     governing body of the municipality and agreed to by the landowner.
 2-7           (d) [(c)]  Before a municipality may allow a landowner to
 2-8     connect to a capital improvement under Subsection (c) [(b)], the
 2-9     municipality shall adopt a finding that the municipality will
2-10     benefit from allowing the landowner to connect to the capital
2-11     improvement.  The finding shall describe the benefit to be received
2-12     by the municipality.
2-13           (e)  The governing body of the municipality may prohibit a
2-14     landowner from connecting to a capital improvement unless the
2-15     landowner enters a written agreement with the municipality in which
2-16     the landowner agrees to pay a proportional share of the cost of the
2-17     capital improvement as determined by the governing body under
2-18     Subsection (c)(2).
2-19           (f) [(d)]  A determination of the governing body of a
2-20     municipality, or its officers or employees, under this section is a
2-21     discretionary function of the municipality and the municipality and
2-22     its officers or employees are not liable for a determination made
2-23     under this section.
2-24           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.