By Truitt                                             H.B. No. 2050
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the land uses authorized at certain airports operated
 1-3     jointly by two municipalities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Title 3, Chapter 22, Transportation Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 22.080 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 22.080.  DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY. (a)  It is the policy of
 1-8     the State that real property owned by airports jointly owned by two
 1-9     municipalities shall be used only for essential airport services.
1-10     The State acknowledges that it is not the role of governmental
1-11     entities to compete with private sector entrepreneurship.
1-12     Moreover, the State has adopted a system of school finance that
1-13     requires all real and personal property that is not used for
1-14     governmental purposes to be subject to ad valorem property taxation
1-15     for the betterment of all school children in the State.
1-16           (b)  An airport described in this subchapter shall determine
1-17     its long-term plans for all of the real property situated within
1-18     its boundaries and designate the uses for said land in a report to
1-19     the Department no later than December 31, 2001.  An airport's land
1-20     use report shall specify the current and planned uses of such land
1-21     over the next succeeding five years, including any planned
1-22     expansion that will require annexation.
1-23           (c)  An airport described in this subchapter shall be
1-24     required to divest itself of ownership of any real property that is
 2-1     not designated for essential airport services in the land use
 2-2     report described in subsection (b) above.
 2-3                 (1)  In this subsection, essential airport service
 2-4     means use as a runway, an airport terminal, runway right-of-way, an
 2-5     air navigation facility, or an airport hazard area.  Improvements
 2-6     such as commercial buildings may be considered to be used for
 2-7     essential airport services only if they are used by companies whose
 2-8     products or services are directly related to air navigation and
 2-9     transportation.  The Department shall be authorized to approve all
2-10     designations of essential airport services made pursuant to this
2-11     section.
2-12                 (2)  An airport shall be required to sell real property
2-13     not planned to be utilized for essential airport services before
2-14     the fifth anniversary of the submission to the Department of the
2-15     land use report required herein.  If the real property cannot be
2-16     sold for fair market value as determined by an independent
2-17     appraisal, then the airport may be allowed to retain ownership of
2-18     said property, upon the approval of the Department, providing that
2-19     the municipality in which said land is located shall be authorized
2-20     to regulate said land's uses through its zoning authority,
2-21     notwithstanding any other law to the contrary.
2-22           (d)  The Department shall perform an audit of each airport
2-23     that is jointly owned by two municipalities each fifth year after
2-24     the effective date of this Act, and if it determines that land that
2-25     remains owned by the airport is not used for essential airport
2-26     services, then the Department shall issue a warning to the airport
2-27     that said finding has been made.  If the next audit performed by
 3-1     the Department finds the real property identified in the prior
 3-2     audit is still not used for essential airport services, then the
 3-3     Department shall commence an action to enforce the intent of this
 3-4     Act and to secure the divestiture of said real property
 3-5     immediately.
 3-6           (e)  An airport owned by two municipalities shall be required
 3-7     to reimburse the Department for the costs incurred in performing
 3-8     the audits required in this Section.
 3-9           (f)  The Department is authorized to adopt rules to implement
3-10     the intent of this section.
3-11           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
3-12     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
3-13     provided by Section 39, Article II, Texas Constitution.  If this
3-14     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
3-15     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.