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78R4646 JD-F
By: Madla S.B. No. 404
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to advanced transportation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 451.701, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (4) to read as
follows:
(1) "Advanced transportation" means light rail,
commuter rail, fixed guideways, traffic management systems, bus
ways, bus lanes, technologically advanced bus transit vehicles and
systems, bus rapid transit vehicles and systems, passenger
amenities, transit centers, stations, electronic transit-related
information, fare and operating systems, high occupancy vehicle
lanes, traffic signal prioritization and coordination systems,
monitoring systems, and other advanced transportation facilities,
equipment, operations, systems, and services, including planning,
feasibility studies, operations, and professional and other
services in connection with such [those] facilities, equipment,
operations, systems, and services.
(4) "Mobility enhancement" means the design,
construction, reconstruction, alteration, and maintenance of:
(A) streets, roads, highways, high occupancy
vehicle lanes, toll lanes, sidewalks, and infrastructure designed
to improve mobility;
(B) traffic signal prioritization and
coordination systems;
(C) monitoring systems; and
(D) other mobility enhancement facilities,
equipment, systems, and services.
SECTION 2. Section 451.702, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (a), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections
(f)-(j) to read as follows:
(a) The board of an authority in which the sales and use tax
is imposed at a rate of one-half of one percent and in which the
principal municipality has a population of more than 700,000 may
order an election to create an advanced transportation district
within the authority's boundaries and to impose a sales and use tax
for advanced transportation and mobility enhancement under this
subchapter. If approved at the election, the rate of the sales and
use tax for advanced transportation and mobility enhancement shall
be set by the governing body of the district at a rate of:
(1) one-eighth of one percent;
(2) [is] one-fourth of one percent;
(3) three-eighths of one percent; or
(4) one-half of one percent.
(d) At the election, the ballots shall be prepared to permit
voting for or against the proposition: "The creation of an advanced
transportation district and the imposition of a sales and use tax
for advanced transportation and mobility enhancement within the
district at the rate to be set by the governing body of the advanced
transportation district [of one-fourth of one percent]."
(e) The proceeds of the sales and use tax imposed under this
section shall be used by the district only for:
(1) advanced transportation and mobility enhancement
purposes as provided by Subsections (f)-(j); and
(2) reimbursement to the authority for the cost of an
election held under this section.
(f) The district shall use one-half of the proceeds of the
sales and use tax only for advanced transportation purposes as
determined by the governing body of the district.
(g) The governing body of the district shall remit
one-fourth of the proceeds of the sales and use tax to each
participating unit in proportion to the amount of the sales and use
tax proceeds that were collected in that participating unit. A
participating unit may use proceeds received under this subsection
only for advanced transportation or mobility enhancement purposes
in the territory of the authority.
(h) Payments under Subsection (g) shall be made quarterly
beginning the first day of the calendar quarter after the quarter in
which the authority receives proceeds of the sales and use tax
imposed under this section.
(i) The governing body of the district shall place
one-fourth of the proceeds of the sales and use tax in a separate
account. Funds in the account, together with interest or other
revenues earned on those funds, may be used as determined by the
governing body of the district only to provide the appropriate
amount to the Texas Department of Transportation as the local share
of a state or federal grant for advanced transportation or mobility
enhancement purposes in the territory of the district.
(j) For projects to be funded under Subsection (i), the
governing body of the district shall:
(1) obtain recommendations from the appropriate
metropolitan planning organization;
(2) prioritize projects eligible for funding under
that subsection; and
(3) consider in the selection and prioritization
process the geographic location of other state or federally funded
transportation projects, advanced transportation projects, and
mobility enhancement projects so as to foster geographic equity in
the planning and development of the projects.
SECTION 3. 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.