SRC-EPT S.B. 1725 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1725
By: Lindsay
Natural Resources
3/30/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, North Harris County Regional Water Authority (authority)
aggregates the water districts in the area to convert ground water to
surface water.  As proposed, S.B. 1725 is a cleanup measure to ensure that
the authority is able to effectively serves its MUD members as well as
400,000 residents.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 1029, Section 2.02(d), Acts of the 76th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, as follows:  

(d)  Requires that at the first election after each time the voting
districts are redrawn directors to be elected to represent the voting
districts of the members of the board whose terms expire next after the
districts are redrawn.  Deletes text regarding five new directors and the
drawing of lots to determine their terms. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Chapter 1029, Section 5.05, Acts of the 76th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, as follows: 

Sec. 5.05.  FUNDING BY OTHER DISTRICTS.  (a)  Requires the North Harris
County Regional Waster Authority (authority) to develop a procedure for
cooperatively funding a project of the authority with money from other
political subdivisions located entirely inside, rather than districts
inside, of the authority's boundaries, and authorizes it to develop a
procedure for cooperatively funding a project of the authority with money
from political subdivisions located in whole or in part outside the
authority's boundaries, water supply corporations, or other private
entities, if the authority project fulfills a governmental purpose of both
the authority and other political subdivisions, or fulfills a governmental
purpose of the authority that the authority determines would be furthered
by cooperative funding from a private entity. 

(b)  Requires the authority, not later than the 90th day before the date
the authority issues bonds, other than refunding bonds, to finance a
project, to provide written notice of the authority's intention to issue
the bonds to each political subdivision located entirely inside the
authority's boundaries that may be benefitted or affected by the project.
Requires the notice to include the value of the bonds planned to be
issued, a description of the project the bonds would finance, and a
schedule of the estimated portion of the project costs financed by the
bonds that may be allocated to each political subdivision benefitted or
affected.  Deletes text regarding the preparation of the schedule. 
 
(c)  Makes conforming changes.  Requires the contract to be executed
before the authority issues the bonds.  Authorizes, rather than requires,
the authority to perform certain actions. 
 
(d)  Provides that the amount stated in the notice under Subsection (b) of
this section is the estimated portion of the project costs that may be
allocated to each political subdivision benefitted or affected by the
project as of the time of the notice.  Provides that the authority is not
obligated to make any refund to a political subdivision that provides
cooperative funding if the political subdivision's estimated portion of
the project costs is greater than the political subdivision's portion of
the actual costs incurred by the authority for the project. Provides that
if the political subdivision's estimated portion of the project costs is
less than the political subdivision's portion of the actual costs incurred
by the authority for the project, the authority may recover the political
subdivision's portion of the actual costs of the project using the same
method as the authority used to recover its costs from political
subdivisions that did not participate in cooperative funding. 

(e)  Provides that the authority is not required to provide the notice
required by Subsection (b) of this section with respect to a bond issue,
or to implement the procedure developed under Subsection (a) of this
section with respect to a bond issue, if the board determines that any
condition exists that renders cooperative funding impractical, including
an existing or anticipated emergency or the intention to issue an amount
of bonds that would render cooperative funding uneconomic or that would
unreasonably increase the cost of issuance relative to the amount of the
proposed bond issue. 
 
SECTION 3.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2003.