78R7667 T
By: Woolley H.B. No. 1685
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the purpose, powers and duties of Harris County
Improvement District No. 1.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
(a) The area within the boundaries of Harris County
Improvement District No. 1 is one of the state's most dynamic
activity centers and is the location of numerous commercial,
office, retail and residential buildings;
(b) The area within the district is served with an
inadequate public transportation system and has an inadequate
system of streets and public parking facilities;
(c) Residents, workers, visitors, customers and other
persons accessing the area within the district must primarily use
motor vehicles and such use places an undue burden on the street
system in the district and results in severe congestion that
retards mobility of persons and property and impairs the use of the
district area as one of the state's primary economic and business
centers;
(d) The absence of an adequate system of parking facilities,
including park and ride facilities, discourages the use of public
transportation and further aggravates vehicular congestion within
the area;
(e) Motor vehicles are generally powered by internal
combustion engines that emit pollutants into the air which results
in dangers to the public health and welfare;
(f) The proliferation of the use of motor vehicles for
passenger transportation within the district is caused in
substantial part by the absence of an adequate public
transportation system and an adequate system or network of public
parking facilities;
(g) Provision of an adequate system of public parking
facilities and public transit and transportation facilities will
accomplish the public purposes of Article III, Section 52a of the
Constitution by stimulating transportation and commerce within the
area of the district and in the state and will serve the further
public purpose of reducing the pollutants discharged into the air
thus reducing the threat to the public health and welfare;
(h) In order for the area within the district to have an
adequate public transit system and an adequate system of public
parking it will be necessary for the district to be able to take
advantage of all public and private funds and opportunities
available and be empowered to contract with other public agencies
and with private entities to jointly provide such facilities.
SECTION 2. Chapter 1026, Acts of the 70th Legislature,
Regular Session, 1987, is amended by adding a new Section 5A to read
as follows:
Sec. 5A. PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM AND PARKING FACILITIES. (A)
The district shall have the power to acquire, lease as lessor or
lessee, construct, develop, own, operate and maintain a public
transit system to serve the area within the boundaries of the
district. Before the district may acquire, construct or develop a
mass transit improvement or facility pursuant to this subsection,
there must be filed with the district a petition requesting the
improvement or facility executed by owners representing either a
majority in value or a majority in square footage of the real
property in the district abutting the right-of-way in which the
improvement or facility is proposed to be located. The calculation
of the property owners signing the petition, whether based on value
or square footage, shall be based on the landowners along the entire
right-of-way of the transit project and shall not be calculated on a
block by block basis.
(B) The district shall have the power to acquire, lease as
lessor or lessee, construct, develop, own, operate and maintain
parking facilities or a system of parking facilities. Parking
facilities include lots, garages, parking terminals or other
structure or accommodation for the parking of motor vehicles off
the streets and includes equipment, entrances, exits, fencing and
other accessories necessary for the safety and convenience in the
parking of vehicles. All parking facilities of the district will
either be leased to or operated for the district by a private entity
or an entity other than the district. The district's parking
facilities will serve the public purposes expressed in Section One
of this Act and be owned, used and held for public purposes even if
leased or operated by a private entity for a term of years and the
district's public parking facilities and any lease to a private
entity will be exempt from the payment of ad valorem taxes and state
and local sales and use taxes.
(C) The district may use any of its resources, including
revenues, assessments, taxes, or grant or contract proceeds to pay
the cost of acquiring and operating a public transit system or a
system of public parking facilities. The district may adopt rules
and regulations covering its public transit system and its public
parking system. The district may set and determine and the district
may charge impose, levy and collect fees, charges and tolls for the
use of the public transit system or the public parking facilities
and may issue bonds or notes to finance the cost of these
facilities. If the district pays for or finances the cost of
acquiring and operating a public transit system or a system of
public parking facilities with resources other than assessments,
then no petition of property owners or public hearing thereon is
required, just as no petition of property owners and public hearing
thereon is required for the provision of all other district
services and improvements not paid for or financed with
assessments. Not withstanding this section, a petition is required
as provided in 5A (A) before the district may construct transit
improvements.
(D) The district is authorized to make contracts, leases,
and agreements with, and accept grants and loans from, the United
States of America, the State, municipalities, other political
subdivisions and private persons or entities to carry out the
purposes of this Act upon such terms and conditions and for such
period of time as the governing body of the district may determine.
SECTION 3. (a) The legislature validates and confirms all
governmental acts and proceedings of Harris County Improvement
District No. 1 and the district's board of directors that occurred
before the effective date of this Act.
(b) This section does not apply to any matter that on the
effective date of this Act:
(1) is involved in litigation, if the litigation
ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final
judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(2) has been held invalid by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.