79R4847 QS-F
By: Deuell S.B. No. 514
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the conversion of the Verandah Fresh Water Supply
District of Hunt County to a municipal utility district; providing
authority to impose a tax and issue bonds; granting the power of
eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The Verandah Fresh Water Supply District of Hunt
County is converted to the Verandah Municipal Utility District of
Hunt County. Section 54.034, Water Code, applies to the district in
the same manner as a district converted under Sections
54.030-54.033, Water Code.
SECTION 2. The legislature finds that development or
redevelopment in the area in the district would not occur solely
through private investment in the reasonably foreseeable future and
that the area in the district:
(1) is unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted;
(2) substantially arrests and impairs the sound growth
of Hunt County because of:
(A) obsolete platting;
(B) deterioration of structures or site
improvements; or
(C) other factors;
(3) retards the provision of housing accommodations;
(4) is an economic and social liability;
(5) is a menace to the public health, safety, morals,
and welfare in its present condition and use; and
(6) is predominantly open.
SECTION 3. Subtitle F, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8110 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8110. VERANDAH MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT OF HUNT COUNTY
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8110.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the board of directors of the
district.
(2) "Director" means a member of the board.
(3) "District" means the Verandah Municipal Utility
District of Hunt County.
Sec. 8110.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. (a) The district is a
municipal utility district with road district powers.
(b) The district is essential to accomplish the purposes of
Section 52, Article III, Section 1-g, Article VIII, and Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and will serve a public use and
benefit.
Sec. 8110.003. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW. (a) Except as
otherwise provided by this chapter, all applicable laws, including
the following laws, apply to the district:
(1) Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code; and
(2) Chapter 257, Transportation Code, and other
general laws applicable to road districts created under Section 52,
Article III, Texas Constitution, to the extent those provisions can
apply to the district.
(b) If a provision of general law relating to road districts
is in conflict or inconsistent with this chapter or Chapter 49 or
54, Water Code, this chapter and Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code,
prevail.
Sec. 8110.004. PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPAIRMENT OF DISTRICT.
A county in which the district is located or a municipality in whose
extraterritorial jurisdiction the district is located may not adopt
an ordinance or resolution or take any other action that:
(1) impairs the ability of the district to exercise
its powers under this chapter or other law; or
(2) limits the ability of the district to finance,
construct, or operate its water, wastewater, drainage, or road
systems.
[Sections 8110.005-8110.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 8110.051. ROAD PROJECTS. (a) The district may
construct, acquire, improve, maintain, or operate macadamized,
graveled, paved, or concreted streets, roads, or turnpikes, or
improvements in aid of those streets, roads, or turnpikes,
including bridges, inside or outside the district.
(b) The improvements may include drainage or landscaping
improvements, lights, signs, signals, sidewalks, or hiking or
biking trails that are incidental to the roads or turnpikes and
their construction, maintenance, or operation.
(c) The district may, following approval of a construction
contract by the board, reimburse expenditures as provided by
Sections 257.003(a) and (b), Transportation Code, without any
additional approval under Section 257.003, Transportation Code.
Sec. 8110.052. JOINT ROAD PROJECTS. A district contract
for a joint project with a state agency, a political subdivision, or
a corporation created under Chapter 431, Transportation Code, may:
(1) provide for joint payment of project costs; or
(2) require the state agency or political subdivision
to design, construct, or improve a project, including landscaping
for the project, as provided by the contract.
Sec. 8110.053. ROAD CONTRACTS. The district may contract
for a road project in the same manner as a road district under
Chapter 257, Transportation Code, except that competitive bidding
for a contract is governed by Subchapter I, Chapter 49, Water Code.
Sec. 8110.054. CERTIFICATE OF CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY.
(a) The district may pay out of bond proceeds or other available
district money all expenses, including legal, engineering, and
other fees, related to obtaining a new certificate of convenience
and necessity under Chapter 13, Water Code, authorizing the
district to provide retail water or sewer service inside or outside
the district.
(b) The district may pay out of bond proceeds or other
available district money all expenses, including the purchase
price, related to acquiring certificate of convenience and
necessity rights from another retail public utility to allow the
district to provide retail water or sewer service in the district.
Sec. 8110.055. CONTRACT WITH POLITICAL SUBDIVISION FOR
WATER OR SEWER SERVICES. (a) The district may enter into a
contract to allow a political subdivision to provide retail water
or sewer service in the district. The contract may contain terms
the board considers desirable, fair, and advantageous to the
district.
(b) The contract may provide that the district will
construct or acquire and convey to the political subdivision a
water supply or treatment system, a water distribution system, or a
sanitary sewage collection or treatment system, as necessary to
provide water or sewer service in the district.
(c) The district may use bond proceeds or other available
district money to pay for its obligations and for services and
facilities provided under the contract.
(d) If the contract requires the district to make payments
from taxes other than operation and maintenance taxes, the contract
is subject to Section 49.108, Water Code.
Sec. 8110.056. EMINENT DOMAIN. The district may acquire by
condemnation any land, easements, or other property, inside or
outside the district boundaries, for any district project or
purpose.
Sec. 8110.057. TAX INCREMENT FINANCING POWERS. (a) Without
further authorization or procedural requirement, the district is a
tax increment reinvestment zone under Chapter 311, Tax Code.
(b) The district has all powers provided under Chapter 311,
Tax Code.
(c) The district may enter into an interlocal agreement with
any overlapping taxing unit for the payment of all or a portion of
the tax increment of the unit to the district. The overlapping
taxing unit may enter into the agreement. The agreement may provide
that the overlapping taxing unit will pay a different portion or
none of its tax increment relating to property used for commercial
purposes.
(d) The base year value of the district, for tax increment
financing purposes, is the value as of January 1, 2004, of all
taxable real property in the district as shown on the certified tax
rolls of the central appraisal district.
[Sections 8110.058-8110.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8110.101. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) The
district may impose a tax for any district operation and
maintenance purpose in the manner provided by Section 49.107, Water
Code.
(b) Section 49.107(f), Water Code, does not apply to
reimbursements for projects constructed or acquired under Section
8110.051.
Sec. 8110.102. TAX TO REPAY BONDS. The district may impose
a tax to pay the principal of and interest on bonds issued under
Section 8110.151.
[Sections 8110.103-8110.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. BONDS
Sec. 8110.151. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS AND OTHER
OBLIGATIONS; TAX. (a) In addition to the general authority to
issue bonds under Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code, the district may
issue bonds or other obligations as provided by Chapters 49 and 54,
Water Code, to finance the construction, maintenance, or operation
of projects under Section 8110.051 or 8110.052.
(b) The district may issue bonds or other obligations
payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, impact fees,
revenue, grants, or other district money or any combination of
those sources.
(c) The district may not issue bonds or other obligations
secured wholly or partly by ad valorem taxation to finance projects
authorized by Section 8110.051 or 8110.052 unless the issuance is
approved by a vote of a two-thirds majority of the voters of the
district voting at an election called for that purpose.
(d) Bonds or other obligations issued or incurred to finance
projects authorized by Section 8110.051 or 8110.052 may not exceed
one-fourth of the assessed value of the real property in the
district.
(e) Sections 49.181 and 49.182, Water Code, do not apply to
a project undertaken by the district under Section 8110.051 or
8110.052 or to bonds issued by the district to finance the project.
[Sections 8110.152-8110.200 reserved for expansion]
SECTION 4. (a) The following are validated and confirmed in
all respects:
(1) the creation of the Verandah Fresh Water Supply
District of Hunt County and all proceedings related to the creation
of the district, effective as of the date on which the creation or
related proceedings occurred; and
(2) any act or proceeding of the district, including
an election, not excepted by this section and taken not more than
three years before the effective date of this Act, effective as of
the date on which the act or proceeding occurred.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) an act, proceeding, director, other official,
bond, or other obligation the validity of which or of whom is the
subject of litigation that is pending on the effective date of this
Act; or
(2) an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this
state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time
the act or proceeding occurred.
SECTION 5. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 6. 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, 2005.