By: Callegari H.B. No. 2978
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to strategic partnership agreements between
municipalities and certain conservation and reclamation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 43.0751(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "District" means a water control and improvement
district or a municipal utility district created or operating under
Chapter 51 or 54, Water Code.
(2) "Limited district" means a district that, pursuant
to a strategic partnership agreement, continues to exist after
full-purpose annexation by a municipality in accordance with the
terms of a strategic partnership agreement.
(3) "Strategic partnership agreement" means a written
agreement between a municipality and a district described in this
section [that provides terms and conditions under which services
will be provided and funded by the parties to the agreement and
under which the district will continue to exist for an extended
period of time if the land within the district is annexed for
limited or full purposes by the municipality].
SECTION 2. Section 43.0751(d), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) Before the governing body of a municipality or a
district adopts a strategic partnership agreement, it shall conduct
two public hearings at which members of the public who wish to
present testimony or evidence regarding the proposed agreement
shall be given the opportunity to do so. Notice of public hearings
conducted by the governing body of a municipality under this
subsection shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the municipality and in the district. The notice must be in the
format prescribed by Section 43.123(b) and must be published at
least once on or after the 20th day before each date. Notice of
public hearings conducted by the governing body of a district under
this subsection shall be given in accordance with the district's
notification procedures for other matters of public importance.
Any notice of a public hearing conducted under this subsection
shall contain a statement of the purpose of the hearing, the date,
time, and place of the hearing, and the location where copies of the
proposed agreement may be obtained prior to the hearing. The
governing bodies of a municipality and a district may conduct joint
public hearings under this subsection, provided that at least one
public hearing is conducted within the district. [A municipality
may combine the public hearings and notices required by this
subsection with the public hearings and notices required by Section
43.124.]
SECTION 3. Section 43.0751(f), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(f) A strategic partnership agreement may provide for the
following:
(1) limited-purpose annexation of the district [under
the provisions of Subchapter F] on terms acceptable to the
municipality and the district provided that the district shall
continue in existence during the period of limited-purpose
annexation and provided further that the municipality shall not be
entitled or authorized to enforce its ordinances or codes within
the district and that the provisions of Subchapter F shall not apply
to a limited purpose annexation under a strategic partnership
agreement;
(2) [such amendments to the timing requirements of
Sections 43.123(d)(2) and 43.127(b) as may be necessary or
convenient to effectuate the purposes of the agreement;
[(3)] payments by the municipality to the district for
services provided by the district;
[(4)] (3) annexation of any commercial property in a
district for full purposes by the municipality, notwithstanding any
other provision of this code or the Water Code, except for the
obligation of the municipality to provide, directly or through
agreement with other units of government, full provision of
municipal services to annexed territory, in lieu of any annexation
of residential property or payment of any fee on residential
property in lieu of annexation of residential property in the
district authorized by this subsection;
[(5)] (4) a full-purpose annexation provision on
terms that are acceptable to the municipality and the district
[specifies one of the following:
[(A) the date on which the land included within
the district's boundaries shall be converted from the
municipality's limited-purpose jurisdiction to its full-purpose
jurisdiction, provided that such date shall not be later than 10
years after the effective date of the strategic partnership
agreement; or
[(B)(i) terms for payment of an annual fee to the
municipality by the district in lieu of full-purpose annexation,
the form in which each such payment must be tendered, a method of
calculating the fee, and the date by which each such payment must be
made; failure by a district to timely make an annual payment in lieu
of full-purpose annexation in the amount and form required by a
strategic partnership agreement shall be the only ground for
termination of the agreement with respect to annexation at the
option of the municipality;
[(ii) to determine a reasonable fee to be
derived from residential property in a district, the municipality
or the district may request a cost-of-service study by an
independent third party agreeable to both parties if
cost-of-service data prepared by the municipality is not
acceptable. Both parties shall be equally responsible for the cost
of the study, which shall include an evaluation of the estimated
annual cost of providing municipal services to the residential
portion of the district over the next 10 years and the estimated
annual amount of ad valorem taxes from residential property the
municipality would receive on full-purpose annexation of the
district over the next 10 years. The fee shall not exceed the
estimated annual amount of residential ad valorem taxes that would
be derived by full-purpose annexation of the district, less the
estimated annual amount required to provide municipal services to
the residential property in the district if annexed for full
purposes. A fee determined through this methodology is subject to
renegotiation every 10 years at the request of either party to the
agreement following the same procedure used to set the fee in the
original agreement. This methodology does not apply to fees from
commercial property;
[(6)] (5) conversion of the district to a limited
district including some or all of the land included within the
boundaries of the district, which conversion shall be effective on
the full-purpose annexation conversion date established under
Subdivision (4) [(5)(A)];
[(7)] (6) agreements existing between districts and
governmental bodies and private providers of municipal services in
existence on the date a municipality evidences its intention by
adopting a resolution to negotiate for a strategic partnership
agreement with the district shall be continued and provision made
for modifications to such existing agreements; and
[(8)] (7) such other lawful terms that the parties
consider appropriate.
SECTION 4. Section 43.0751(i), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(i) A [district that is negotiating for or that has adopted
a] strategic partnership agreement may provide that the district
shall not incur additional debt, liabilities, or obligations, to
construct additional utility facilities, or sell or otherwise
transfer property without prior approval of the municipality[,
which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. An
action taken in violation of this subsection is void].
SECTION 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 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.