The Legislative Budget Board in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined the following:

Subject to confirmation elections, the Bill creates the Downtown Midland Management District (District) in Midland County with the powers and duties of Water Code Chapters 49 and 54. The District will have nine directors.

1) Population - The proposed district appears to be within the City of Midland, though it does not include all of the city. Due to the complexity of the proposed boundaries, TWDB is not able to determine the exact location of the district in the short review period. Hence, TWDB is not able to make an estimate of current or future population for the proposed district. The population projections recently approved for use in the 2006 Regional Water Plans show an increase in the City of Midland population from 94,996 in the year 2000 to 105,639 in the year 2020.

2) Location & Size - The District includes an area within Midland County. The size of the District was not provided and is unable to be determined.

3) Powers - The District has the rights, powers, privileges, authority, and functions for special conservation and reclamation districts including Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code.

4) District Finances - Consistent with general law for special utility districts providing authority to impose a tax and issue bonds.

5) Board of Directors - The District will be governed by a board of nine elected directors which will serve staggered terms of four years.

6) Eminent Domain - Like general law MMDs, the District may not exercise the power of eminent domain.

7) Ability to Tax - The District may impose assessments, according to Local Government Code Chapter 375.

8) Overlapping Services - There are no known overlapping special utility districts or water supply corporations.

9) Ability to Exclude Property - Chapter 49 of the Water Code has provisions to exclude property.

10) Adequacy of Boundary Description - The bill states the boundaries of the proposed authority form a closure; however, a metes and bounds description was not provided, so TCEQ’s Water Supply Division staff could not verify a closure.

11) Comments on Powers /Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts - None

12) TCEQ Supervision - Similar to general law MMDs which are exempt from TCEQ auditing and bond review authority unless the bonds are issued specifically for water, wastewater, or drainage facilities.

13) State Water Plan Objectives - In the year 2000, approximately 12 percent of the City water system’s intake was groundwater and 88 percent was surface water. Based on the year 2000 reported water use, the Gallons-Per-Capita-Daily for the city residents was 262. In Section 3(c), the bill states that "The district is created to supplement and not to supplant the county or city services provided in the area in the district", so any water or wastewater service will continue to be provided by the city.

Board staff finds that creation of the proposed District is not in conflict with the State Water Plan objectives of promoting the efficient use of local groundwater resources and the implementation of practices and programs to effectively manage local groundwater resources.