This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
78R13709 DRH-F
By: Wong H.B. No. 3578
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3578:
By: Flynn C.S.H.B. No. 3578
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to powers, duties, and name of the Upper Kirby Management
District.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 376, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. HARRIS COUNTY IMPROVEMENT [UPPER KIRBY MANAGEMENT]
DISTRICT NO. 3
SECTION 2. Section 376.151(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A special district to be known as the "Harris County
Improvement [Upper Kirby Management] District No. 3" exists as a
governmental agency, body politic and corporate, and political
subdivision of the state.
SECTION 3. Section 376.153(2), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "District" means the Harris County Improvement
[Upper Kirby Management] District No. 3.
SECTION 4. Section 376.165, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
(g) An assessment may be imposed on only a part of the
district if only that part will benefit from the service or
improvement.
(h) The board may not impose an assessment or finance a
service or improvement project under this subchapter unless a
written petition requesting the improvement or service has been
filed with the board. The petition must be signed by:
(1) the owners of a majority of the assessed value of
real property in the district or in the area of the district that
will be subject to the assessment as determined by the most recent
certified tax appraisal roll for Harris County; or
(2) at least 25 persons who own real property in the
district or the area of the district that will be subject to the
assessment, if more than 25 persons own real property in the
district or area that will be subject to the assessment as
determined by the most recent certified tax appraisal roll for
Harris County.
SECTION 5. Section 376.170, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 376.170. EXEMPTION OF PUBLIC UTILITY FROM FEE OR
ASSESSMENT. The district may not impose an impact fee or assessment
on the property, equipment, or facilities of an electric utility as
defined by Section 31.002, Utilities Code, a gas utility as defined
by Section 101.003 or 121.001, Utilities Code, or a
telecommunications provider as defined by Section 51.002,
Utilities Code.
SECTION 6. Subchapter E, Chapter 376, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 376.171 to read as follows:
Sec. 376.171. USE OF ELECTRICAL OR OPTICAL LINES. (a) The
district may impose an assessment to pay the cost of:
(1) burying or removing electrical power lines,
telephone lines, cable or fiber optic lines, or any other type of
electrical or optical line;
(2) removing poles and any elevated lines using the
poles; and
(3) reconnecting the lines described by Subdivision
(2) to the buildings or other improvements to which the lines were
connected.
(b) The district may finance, acquire, construct, improve,
operate, maintain, or charge fees for the use of:
(1) telecommunications networks, fiber-optic cable,
electronic transmission lines, or other types of transmission lines
and supporting facilities; or
(2) conduits for a line or facility described by
Subdivision (1).
SECTION 7. Subchapter E, Chapter 376, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 376.172 to read as follows:
Sec. 376.172. PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM AND PARKING FACILITIES.
(a) The district may 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.
(b) Before the district may act under Subsection (a), a
petition must be filed with the district requesting the action with
regard to a public transit system. The petition must be signed by
owners of property representing a majority of either the total
assessed value or the area of the real property in the district that
abuts the right-of-way in which the public transit system is
proposed to be located. The determination of a majority is based on
the property owners along the entire right-of-way of the proposed
transit project and may not be calculated on a block-by-block
basis.
(c) The district may acquire, lease as lessor or lessee,
construct, develop, own, operate, and maintain parking facilities,
including:
(1) lots, garages, parking terminals, or other
structures or accommodations for the parking of motor vehicles; and
(2) equipment, entrances, exits, fencing, and other
accessories necessary for safety and convenience in the parking of
vehicles.
(d) A parking facility of the district must be either leased
to or operated on behalf of the district by a private entity or an
entity other than the district. The district's parking facilities
are a program authorized by the legislature under Section 52-a,
Article III, Texas Constitution, and accomplish a public purpose
under that section even if leased or operated by a private entity
for a term of years.
(e) The district's public parking facilities and any lease
to a private entity are exempt from the payment of ad valorem taxes
and state and local sales and use taxes.
(f) The district may use any of its resources, including
revenues, assessments, taxes, and grant or contract proceeds, to
pay the cost of acquiring and operating a public transit system or
public parking facilities.
(g) The district may adopt rules and regulations covering
its public transit system or its public parking facilities except
that any rules relating to or affecting the use of the public
right-of-way or requirements for off-street parking must be subject
to all applicable municipal charter, code, or ordinance
requirements.
(h) The district may set and impose fees, charges, or 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.
(i) Except as provided by Subsection (b), if the district
pays for or finances the cost of acquiring or operating a public
transit system or public parking facilities with resources other
than assessments, a petition of property owners or a public hearing
is not required.
(j) If the district's acquisition of property for a parking
facility that is leased to or operated by a private entity results
in the removal from a taxing unit's tax rolls of real property
otherwise subject to ad valorem taxation, the district shall pay to
the taxing unit in which the property is located, on or before
January 1 of each year, as a payment in lieu of taxes, an amount
equal to the ad valorem taxes that otherwise would have been levied
for the preceding tax year on that real property by the taxing unit,
without including the value of any improvements constructed on the
property.
SECTION 8. (a) The legislature validates and confirms all
acts and proceedings of the Harris County Improvement District No.
3 and the district's board of directors that occurred before the
effective date of this Act, including changing the district's name
from the "Upper Kirby Management District" to "Harris County
Improvement District No. 3."
(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 with jurisdiction; or
(2) has been held invalid by a court with
jurisdiction.
SECTION 9. 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.