78R6851 JTS-D
By: Eissler H.B. No. 1950
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation, administration, powers, duties,
operations, and financing of a regional commuter rail district;
granting the authority to issue bonds; granting the power of
eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 13, Title 112, Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding Article 6550c-3 to read as follows:
Art. 6550c-3. REGIONAL COMMUTER RAIL DISTRICTS
Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. In this article:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
Commission.
(2) "Commuter rail facility" means any property
necessary for the transportation of passengers and baggage between
points in a district. The term includes rolling stock,
locomotives, stations, parking areas, and rail lines.
(3) "Creating county" means a county described by
Section 2(b) of this article.
(4) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Transportation.
(5) "District" means a regional commuter rail district
created under this article.
(6) "District property" means all property the
district owns or leases under a long-term lease.
(7) "System" means all of the commuter rail and
intermodal facilities leased or owned by or operated on behalf of a
district.
Sec. 2. CREATION OF REGIONAL COMMUTER RAIL DISTRICT. (a) A
regional commuter rail district may be created to provide commuter
rail service to areas of the region for which a regional commuter
rail district is created.
(b) A regional commuter rail district is created by two or
more counties on adoption of an order favoring the creation of the
district by the commissioners court of each creating county.
(c) The following political subdivisions may become part of
a regional commuter rail district created under Subsection (b) of
this section with the approval of the governing body of the
political subdivision:
(1) a county that is adjacent to a creating county; and
(2) a municipality with a population of more than
18,000 that has territory in a county that is part of the district.
Sec. 3. BOARD. (a) A district is governed by a board of
directors. The board is responsible for the management, operation,
and control of the district.
(b) The board is composed of nine members appointed by the
governor. Each member serves a term of two years.
(c) The members of the board shall elect one member as
presiding officer. The presiding officer may select another member
to preside in the absence of the presiding officer.
(d) The presiding officer shall call at least one meeting of
the board each year and may call other meetings as the presiding
officer determines are appropriate.
(e) A member of the board is not entitled to compensation
for serving as a member but is entitled to reimbursement for
reasonable expenses incurred while serving as a member.
(f) The board shall adopt rules for its proceedings and
appoint an executive committee. The board may employ and
compensate persons to carry out the powers and duties of the
district.
(g) Chapter 171, Local Government Code, applies to a member
of the board.
Sec. 4. POWERS AND DUTIES OF DISTRICT. (a) A district
created under this article is a public body and a political
subdivision of the state exercising public and essential
governmental functions and has all the powers necessary or
convenient to carry out the purposes of this article. A district,
in the exercise of powers under this article, is performing only
governmental functions and is a governmental unit within the
meaning of Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(b) A district is subject every 12th year to review under
Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act).
(c) A district may sue and be sued in all courts, may
institute and prosecute suits without giving security for costs,
and may appeal from a judgment without giving a supersedeas or cost
bond. An action at law or in equity against the district must be
brought in the county in which a principal office of the district is
located, except that in an eminent domain proceeding involving an
interest in land, suit must be brought in the county in which the
land is located.
(d) A district may acquire by grant, purchase, gift, devise,
lease, or otherwise and may hold, use, sell, lease, or dispose of
real and personal property, licenses, patents, rights, and
interests necessary, convenient, or useful for the full exercise of
its powers.
(e) A district may acquire, construct, develop, own,
operate, and maintain intermodal and commuter rail facilities to
connect political subdivisions in the district. For this purpose
and with the consent of a municipality, county, or other political
subdivision, the district may use streets, alleys, roads, highways,
and other public ways of the municipality, county, or other
political subdivision and may relocate, raise, reroute, change the
grade of, or alter, at the expense of the district, the construction
of any street, alley, highway, road, railroad, electric lines and
facilities, telegraph and telephone properties and facilities,
pipelines and facilities, conduits and facilities, and other
properties, whether publicly or privately owned, as necessary or
useful in the construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance,
and operation of the system. A district may not use or alter a road
or highway that is part of the state highway system without the
permission of the commission or a railroad without permission of
the railroad. A district may acquire by purchase any interest in
real property for the acquisition, construction, or operation of a
commuter rail facility on terms and at a price as agreed to between
the district and the owner. The governing body of a municipality,
county, other political subdivision, or public agency may convey
title or rights and easements to any property needed by the district
to effect its purposes in connection with the acquisition,
construction, or operation of the system.
(f) A district has the right of eminent domain to acquire
real property in fee simple or an interest in real property less
than fee simple in, on, under, or above land, including an easement,
right-of-way, or right of use of airspace or subsurface space. The
power of eminent domain under this section does not apply to land
under the jurisdiction of the department or a metropolitan rapid
transit authority organized under Chapter 451, Transportation
Code, or a rail line owned by a common carrier or municipality. The
district shall, to the extent possible, use existing rail or
intermodal transportation corridors for the alignment of its
system. A proceeding for the exercise of the power of eminent
domain is begun by the adoption by the board of a resolution
declaring the public necessity for the acquisition by the district
of the property or interest described in the resolution and that the
acquisition is necessary and proper for the construction,
extension, improvement, or development of commuter rail facilities
and is in the public interest. The resolution of the district is
conclusive evidence of the public necessity of the proposed
acquisition and that the real or personal property or interest in
property is necessary for public use.
(g) A district may make agreements with a public utility,
private utility, communication system, common carrier, state
agency, or transportation system for the joint use of facilities,
installations, or properties inside or outside the district and
establish through routes and joint fares.
(h) A district may adopt rules to govern the operation of
the district, its employees, the system, service provided by the
district, and any other necessary matter concerning its purposes,
including rules relating to health, safety, alcohol or beverage
service, food service, and telephone and utility services, to
protect the health, safety, and general welfare of residents of the
district and people who use the district's services.
(i) A district may enter into a joint ownership agreement
with any person.
(j) A district shall establish and maintain rates or other
compensation for the use of the facilities of the system acquired,
constructed, operated, regulated, or maintained by the district
that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory and, together with grants
received by the district, is sufficient to produce revenues
adequate:
(1) to pay all expenses necessary for the operation
and maintenance of the properties and facilities of the district;
(2) to pay the interest on and principal of bonds
issued by the district and payable in whole or in part from the
revenues, as they become due and payable; and
(3) to fulfill the terms of an agreement made with the
holders of bonds or with any person in their behalf.
(k) A district may make contracts, leases, and agreements
with, and accept grants and loans from, the United States of
America, its departments and agencies, this state, agencies and
political subdivisions of this state, and other persons and
entities and may perform any act necessary for the full exercise of
the powers vested in it. The commission may enter an interlocal
agreement with a district under which the district may exercise a
power or duty of the commission for the development and efficient
operation of an intermodal corridor in the district. A district may
acquire rolling stock or other property under conditional sales
contracts, leases, equipment trust certificates, or any other form
of contract or trust agreement. A revenue bond indenture may limit
the exercise of the powers granted by this section, and a limit
applies as long as the revenue bonds issued under the indenture are
outstanding and unpaid.
(l) A district by resolution may adopt rules governing the
use, operation, and maintenance of the system and may determine or
change a routing as the board considers advisable.
(m) A district may lease all or part of the commuter rail
facilities to, or contract for the use or operation of all or part
of the commuter rail facilities by, an operator. A district shall
encourage to the maximum extent practicable the participation of
private enterprise in the operation of commuter rail facilities.
The term of an operating contract under this subsection may not
exceed 20 years.
(n) A district may contract with a county or other political
subdivision of this state for the district to provide commuter rail
transportation services to an area outside the boundaries of the
district on such terms and conditions as the parties agree to.
(o) A district may purchase an additional insured provision
to any liability insurance contract.
(p) Before beginning the operation of commuter rail
facilities, the board shall adopt an annual operating budget
specifying the anticipated revenues and expenses of the district
for the remainder of the fiscal year. Each year the board shall
adopt an operating budget for the district. The fiscal year of the
district ends September 30 unless changed by the board. The board
shall hold a public hearing before adopting a budget other than the
initial budget. Notice of each hearing must be published at least
seven days before the date of the hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation in the district. A budget may be amended at any time if
notice of the proposed amendment is given in the notice of the
meeting at which the amendment will be considered. An expenditure
that is not budgeted may not be made.
(q) A district is eligible to participate in the Texas
County and District Retirement System.
(r) The board of a district shall by resolution name one or
more banks for the deposit of district funds. District funds are
public funds and may be invested in securities permitted by Chapter
2256, Government Code. To the extent funds of the district are not
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or its
successor, they shall be collateralized in the manner provided for
county funds.
Sec. 5. BONDS AND NOTES. (a) A district may issue revenue
bonds and notes in amounts as the board considers necessary or
appropriate for the acquisition, purchase, construction,
reconstruction, repair, equipping, improvement, or extension of
the district's commuter rail facilities. A bond or note is fully
negotiable and may be made redeemable before maturity, at the
option of the district and at the price and under the terms the
board determines in the resolution authorizing the bond or note and
may be sold at public or private sale, as the board determines.
(b) A district shall submit all bonds and notes and the
record of proceedings relating to their issuance to the attorney
general for examination before delivery. If the attorney general
determines that they have been issued in accordance with the
constitution and this article and that they will be binding
obligations of the district issuing them, the attorney general
shall approve them, and the comptroller shall register them. A bond
or note issued under this article is incontestable after approval,
registration, and sale and delivery of the bond or note to the
purchaser.
(c) To secure the payment of the bond or note, the district
may encumber and pledge all or any part of the revenues of its
commuter rail facilities, may mortgage and encumber all or part of
the property of the commuter rail facilities and everything
pertaining to them that is acquired or to be acquired, and may
prescribe the terms and provisions of the bond or note in any manner
not inconsistent with this article. If not prohibited by the
resolution or indenture relating to outstanding bonds or notes, a
district may encumber separately any item of real or personal
property.
(d) A bond or note is a legal and authorized investment for
banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, and
insurance companies. The bond or note is eligible to secure the
deposit of public funds of this state or a municipality, county,
school district, or other political corporation or subdivision of
this state. The bond or note is lawful and sufficient security for
the deposits to the extent of the principal amount or market value
of the bond or note, whichever is less.
Sec. 6. COMPETITIVE BIDS. A contract in the amount of more
than $15,000 for the construction of improvements or the purchase
of material, machinery, equipment, supplies, or any other property
other than real property may be let only on competitive bids after
notice published, at least 15 days before the date set for receiving
bids, in a newspaper of general circulation in the district. The
board may adopt rules governing the taking of bids and the awarding
of contracts. This section does not apply to:
(1) personal or professional services;
(2) the acquisition of an existing rail transportation
system; or
(3) a contract with a common carrier to construct
lines or to operate commuter rail service on lines owned in whole or
in part by the carrier.
Sec. 7. EXEMPTION FROM TAXES. The property, material
purchases, revenues, and income of a district and the interest on a
bond or note issued by a district are exempt from all taxes imposed
by this state or a political subdivision of this state.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.