By Uher H.B. No. 3640 77R4860 SGA-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the creation, administration, powers, duties, 1-3 operation, and financing of the Coastal Plains Groundwater 1-4 Conservation District and the authorization of the district to 1-5 impose an ad valorem tax. 1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-7 SECTION 1. CREATION. (a) A groundwater conservation 1-8 district, to be known as the Coastal Plains Groundwater 1-9 Conservation District, is created in Matagorda County, subject to 1-10 approval at a confirmation election under Section 10 of this Act. 1-11 The district is a governmental agency and a body politic and 1-12 corporate. 1-13 (b) The district is created under and is essential to 1-14 accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI, Texas 1-15 Constitution. 1-16 SECTION 2. DEFINITION. In this Act, "district" means the 1-17 Coastal Plains Groundwater Conservation District. 1-18 SECTION 3. BOUNDARIES. The boundaries of the district are 1-19 coextensive with the boundaries of Matagorda County, Texas. 1-20 SECTION 4. FINDING OF BENEFIT. All of the land and other 1-21 property included within the boundaries of the district will be 1-22 benefitted by the works and projects that are to be accomplished by 1-23 the district under powers conferred by Section 59, Article XVI, 1-24 Texas Constitution. The district is created to serve a public use 2-1 and benefit. 2-2 SECTION 5. POWERS. (a) Except as otherwise provided by 2-3 this Act, the district has all of the rights, powers, privileges, 2-4 authority, functions, and duties provided by the general law of 2-5 this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code, applicable to 2-6 groundwater conservation districts created under Section 59, 2-7 Article XVI, Texas Constitution. This Act prevails over any 2-8 provision of general law that is in conflict with or inconsistent 2-9 with this Act. 2-10 (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the 2-11 following provisions prevail over a conflicting or inconsistent 2-12 provision of this Act: 2-13 (1) Sections 36.1071-36.108, Water Code; 2-14 (2) Sections 36.159-36.161, Water Code; and 2-15 (3) Subchapter I, Chapter 36, Water Code. 2-16 SECTION 6. REGIONAL COOPERATION. To provide for uniformity 2-17 across districts in addressing the need to achieve a common 2-18 approach to managing the underlying aquifer and to ensure that 2-19 administration of the district will be cost effective, the district 2-20 shall: 2-21 (1) attempt to coordinate meetings with adjacent 2-22 districts; 2-23 (2) encourage sharing of personnel and resources to 2-24 achieve administrative cost savings; 2-25 (3) study a common approach for collecting and sharing 2-26 appropriate data to be used in managing the aquifer; 2-27 (4) support cooperation in the investigation of 3-1 aquifer contamination; and 3-2 (5) include adjacent districts on mailing lists for 3-3 district meeting announcements, newsletters, public meetings, and 3-4 other scheduled events. 3-5 SECTION 7. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. (a) The district is 3-6 governed by a board of seven directors. 3-7 (b) Temporary directors serve until initial directors are 3-8 elected under Section 10 of this Act. 3-9 (c) Initial directors serve until permanent directors are 3-10 elected under Section 11 of this Act. 3-11 (d) Permanent directors serve staggered four-year terms. 3-12 (e) Each director must qualify to serve as director in the 3-13 manner provided by Section 36.055, Water Code. 3-14 (f) A director serves until the director's successor has 3-15 qualified. 3-16 (g) A vacancy in the office of director shall be filled by 3-17 appointment of the board until the next election for directors. At 3-18 the next election for directors, a person shall be elected to fill 3-19 the position. If the position is not scheduled to be filled at the 3-20 election, the person elected to fill the position shall serve only 3-21 for the remainder of the unexpired term. 3-22 SECTION 8. TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. (a) The temporary board of 3-23 directors is composed of: 3-24 Position No: Name 3-25 (1) Haskell Simon; 3-26 (2) Herff Cornelius; 3-27 (3) Bruce Herlin; 4-1 (4) Wayne Ackerman; 4-2 (5) George Harrison; 4-3 (6) Billy Mann; and 4-4 (7) Bob Pennington 4-5 (b) If a temporary director fails to qualify for office, the 4-6 temporary directors who have qualified shall appoint a person to 4-7 fill the vacancy. 4-8 SECTION 9. METHOD OF ELECTING DIRECTORS. (a) Three 4-9 directors shall be elected by the qualified voters of the entire 4-10 district, and one director shall be elected from each county 4-11 commissioners precinct by the qualified voters of that precinct. 4-12 The directors elected from precincts 1-4 occupy positions 1-4, 4-13 respectively, on the board. The at-large directors occupy 4-14 positions 5-7, respectively, on the board. 4-15 (b) To be eligible to be a candidate for or to serve as a 4-16 director at large, a person must be a registered voter in the 4-17 district. To be eligible to be a candidate for or to serve as a 4-18 director from a county commissioners precinct, a person must be a 4-19 registered voter of that precinct. 4-20 (c) A person shall indicate the position on the board for 4-21 which the person is a candidate on the application for a place on 4-22 the ballot. 4-23 (d) At the first election after the county commissioners 4-24 precincts are redrawn under Section 18, Article V, Texas 4-25 Constitution, four new directors shall be elected to represent the 4-26 precincts. The directors elected shall draw lots to determine 4-27 which two directors serve two-year terms and which two directors 5-1 serve four-year terms. 5-2 SECTION 10. CONFIRMATION AND INITIAL DIRECTORS' ELECTION. 5-3 (a) The temporary board of directors shall call and hold an 5-4 election to confirm establishment of the district and to elect 5-5 initial directors. 5-6 (b) At the confirmation and initial directors' election, the 5-7 temporary board of directors shall have placed on the ballot the 5-8 name of any candidate filing for an initial director's position and 5-9 blank spaces to write in the names of other persons. A temporary 5-10 director who is eligible to be a candidate under Section 9 may file 5-11 for an initial director's position. 5-12 (c) Section 41.001(a), Election Code, does not apply to a 5-13 confirmation and initial directors' election held as provided by 5-14 this section. 5-15 (d) Except as provided by this section, a confirmation and 5-16 initial directors' election must be conducted as provided by 5-17 Sections 36.017(b)-(h), Water Code, and the Election Code. 5-18 (e) If a majority of the votes cast at the election are 5-19 against the creation of the district, the temporary directors may 5-20 call and hold subsequent elections to confirm establishment of the 5-21 district. A subsequent election may not be held earlier than the 5-22 first anniversary of the date on which the previous election was 5-23 held. 5-24 (f) The initial directors for positions 1, 3, 5, and 7 shall 5-25 serve until the first regular meeting of the board of directors 5-26 following the first permanent directors' election under Section 11 5-27 of this Act. The initial directors for positions 2, 4, and 6 shall 6-1 serve until the first regular meeting of the board of directors 6-2 following the second permanent directors' election under Section 11 6-3 of this Act. 6-4 SECTION 11. ELECTION OF PERMANENT DIRECTORS. Beginning in 6-5 the second year after the year in which the district is authorized 6-6 to be created at a confirmation election and every subsequent two 6-7 years, the board of directors of the district shall call an 6-8 election to be held in the district on any uniform election date 6-9 provided by Section 41.001(a), Election Code, to elect the 6-10 appropriate number of directors to the board. If the board changes 6-11 the uniform election date for directors' elections, the district 6-12 shall adjust the terms of office to conform to the new election 6-13 date. 6-14 SECTION 12. DISTRICT REVENUES. To pay the maintenance and 6-15 operating costs of the district and to pay any bonds issued by the 6-16 district, the district may: 6-17 (1) impose an ad valorem tax at a rate not to exceed 6-18 2-1/2 cents for each $100 of taxable value of property in the 6-19 district, subject to voter approval; 6-20 (2) assess fees for services or for water withdrawn 6-21 from wells; or 6-22 (3) solicit and accept grants from any public or 6-23 private source. 6-24 SECTION 13. FINDINGS RELATED TO PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS. 6-25 (a) The proper and legal notice of the intention to introduce this 6-26 Act, setting forth the general substance of this Act, has been 6-27 published as provided by law, and the notice and a copy of this Act 7-1 have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials, or 7-2 entities to which they are required to be furnished by the 7-3 constitution and other laws of this state, including the governor, 7-4 who has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Natural Resource 7-5 Conservation Commission. 7-6 (b) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission has 7-7 filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, 7-8 lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives 7-9 within the required time. 7-10 (c) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this 7-11 state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect 7-12 to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled 7-13 and accomplished. 7-14 SECTION 14. EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION DATE. (a) This Act 7-15 takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all 7-16 the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, 7-17 Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the 7-18 vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect 7-19 September 1, 2001. 7-20 (b) If the creation of the district is not confirmed by a 7-21 confirmation election held under Section 10 of this Act before the 7-22 fifth anniversary of the effective date of this Act, this Act 7-23 expires on that date. 7-24 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 7-25 Amend H.B. 3640 on page 4, line 4, by striking "Bob 7-26 Pennington" and substituting "Deedy Huffman". 8-1 77R11149 SGA-F Counts 8-2 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2 8-3 Amend H.B. No. 3640 (Introduced version) on page 4 by 8-4 striking lines 23-27 and on page 5 by striking line 1 and 8-5 substituting: 8-6 (d) At the first election after the county commissioners 8-7 precincts are redrawn under Section 18, Article V, Texas 8-8 Constitution, each director in office on the effective date of the 8-9 change, or elected to a term of office beginning on or after the 8-10 effective date of the change, shall serve, unless otherwise removed 8-11 as provided by law, in the position to which each was elected for 8-12 the entire term to which elected, even though the change in 8-13 boundaries places the director's residence outside the precinct 8-14 from which the director was elected. 8-15 77R12049 SGA-F Counts