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Amend SB 1266 (house committee printing) by striking all
below the enacting clause and substituting the following:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 222, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 222.105, 222.106, 222.107, and
222.108 to read as follows:
Sec. 222.105. PURPOSES. The purposes of this chapter are
to:
(1) promote public safety;
(2) facilitate the movement of traffic;
(3) preserve the public's financial investment in
highways by requiring the Texas Department of
Transportation to provide incentives for local
governments to participate in the development of
highway infrastructure projects through the
option to create Transportation Reinvestment
Zones provided for under this chapter; and
(4) create a fund in the state treasury, the
Transportation Reinvestment Fund, to serve as a
central depository for any local revenue
generated by the development of a Transportation
Reinvestment Zone with the intent to partially
finance pass through highway projects in this
state.
Sec. 222.106. TRANSPORTATION REINVESTMENT FUND. (a) In
this section, "fund" means the transportation reinvestment fund.
(b) The fund is a special account in the state treasury
administered by the comptroller. The fund is exempt from the
application of Section 403.095, Government Code. Interest earned
on money in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
(c) The fund consists of money received under Section 222.107
or 222.108.
(d) Any amount deposited to the credit of the fund may be used
only for the purpose of funding projects authorized by Section
222.104.
(e) The fund shall be limited to providing not greater than 40
percent of eligible project costs for projects authorized by the
department under Section 222.104, and the department shall provide
any remaining necessary funding from any available source.
(f) For all projects approved by the department under the
provisions of Sections 222.104 and 222.106, the department shall:
(1) fund eligible project costs at a level of ninety
percent or greater for sponsoring entities
establishing a transportation reinvestment zone
as defined by 222.107 or 222.108; and
(2) negotiate a deposit to the credit of the fund from
revenue collected under 222.107 or
(3) 222.108 of not greater than 50 percent of the
aggregate amount of any payments made by the
department to the municipality or county under the
agreement negotiated under Section 222.104.
(g) Money deposited to the fund shall be:
(1) used only for a purpose specified by this section;
(2) reserved for future projects authorized under
222.104 sponsored by the originating entity for a period of ten
years; and
(3) reserved for future projects authorized under
222.104, after the expiration of the tenth anniversary of a
deposit to the fund, only in connection with a project that is
located in the department district in which the
transportation reinvestment zone is located.
(h) Projects that have received Transportation Commission
approval prior to the effective date of this Section are exempted
from any provisions defined in this Section.
Sec. 222.106. MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION REINVESTMENT ZONES.
(a) In this section:
(1) the amount of a municipality's tax increment for a
year is the amount of ad valorem taxes levied and
collected by the municipality for that year on the
captured appraised value of real property taxable
by the
(2) municipality and located in a transportation
reinvestment zone under this section;
(3) the captured appraised value of real property
taxable by a municipality for a year is the total appraised value of
all real property taxable by the municipality and located in a
transportation reinvestment zone for that year less the tax
increment base of the municipality; and
(4) the tax increment base of a municipality is the
total appraised value of all real property taxable by the
municipality and located in a transportation reinvestment zone for
the year in which the zone was designated under this section.
(b) This section applies only to a municipality the
governing body of which has entered into an agreement with the
department under Section 222.104.
(c) If the governing body determines the area to be
unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted, the governing body of
the municipality by ordinance may designate a contiguous geographic
area in the jurisdiction of the municipality to be a transportation
reinvestment zone to promote a transportation project described by
Section 222.104 that cultivates development or redevelopment of the
area.
(d) In determining whether an area is unproductive,
underdeveloped, or blighted, the governing body of the municipality
may:
(1) use the criteria established by Section
311.005(a), Tax Code; or
(2) use other criteria that the governing body
reasonably determines, in good faith, provide a basis for making
the determination.
(e) Not later than the seventh day before the date the
governing body of the municipality proposes to adopt an ordinance
designating an area as a transportation reinvestment zone under
this section, the governing body must hold a public hearing on the
creation of the zone and its benefits to the municipality and to
property in the proposed zone. At the hearing an interested person
may speak for or against the creation of the zone or its boundaries.
Not later than the seventh day before the date of the hearing,
notice of the hearing must be published in a newspaper having
general circulation in the municipality.
(f) Fulfilling the requirements of this section shall
constitute designation of an area as a transportation reinvestment
zone without further hearings or other procedural requirements.
(g) The ordinance designating an area as a transportation
reinvestment zone must:
(1) describe the boundaries of the zone with
sufficient definiteness to identify with ordinary and reasonable
certainty the territory included in the zone;
(2) provide that the zone takes effect immediately on
passage of the ordinance;
(3) assign a name to the zone for identification, with
the first zone created by a
municipality designated as "Transportation Reinvestment Zone
Number One, City (or Town, as applicable) of (name of
municipality)," and subsequently created zones assigned names in
the same form, numbered consecutively in the order of their
creation;
(4) establish a local ad valorem tax increment account
for the zone; and
(5) contain findings that:
(A) promotion of the transportation project will
cultivate development or redevelopment of the zone; and
(B) the zone meets the requirements of Subsection
(d).
(h) From taxes collected on property in the zone, the
municipality shall pay into the local tax increment account for a
zone an amount equal to the tax increment produced by the
municipality.
(i) The governing body of the municipality, by ordinance or
resolution, may enter into an agreement with the department under
Section 222.106(f) of this chapter, authorizing a percentage of the
money deposited to the credit of the local tax increment account
established for the transportation reinvestment zone to be
deposited to the credit of the transportation reinvestment fund.
Any remaining amount in the tax increment fund may be used for any
municipal purpose in the zone.
(j) A transportation reinvestment zone terminates on
December 31 of the year in which the municipality ceases to
be required to make reimbursement payments to the department under
Subsection (i). Any surplus remaining on termination of the zone
may be used for transportation projects of the municipality in or
outside of the zone.
Sec. 222.107. COUNTY TRANSPORTATION REINVESTMENT ZONES;
TAX ABATEMENTS; ROAD UTILITY DISTRICTS. (a) In this section:
(1) the amount of a county's tax increment for a year
is the amount of ad valorem taxes levied and collected by the county
for that year on the captured appraised value of real property
taxable by the county and located in a transportation reinvestment
zone under this section;
(2) the captured appraised value of real property
taxable by a county for a year is the total appraised value of all
real property taxable by the county and located in a transportation
reinvestment zone for that year less the tax increment base of the
county; and
(3) the tax increment base of a county is the total
appraised value of all real property taxable by the county and
located in a transportation reinvestment zone for the year in which
the zone was designated under this section.
(b) This section applies only to a county the commissioners
court of which has entered into a pass-through toll agreement with
the department under Section 222.104.
(c) The commissioners court of the county by order or
resolution may designate a contiguous geographic area in the
jurisdiction of the county to be a transportation
reinvestment zone to promote a transportation project described by
Section 222.104 that cultivates development or redevelopment of the
area and for the purpose of abating ad valorem taxes imposed by the
county on real property located in the zone.
(d) Not later than the seventh day before the date the
commissioners court proposes to designate an area as a
transportation reinvestment zone under this section, the
commissioners court must hold a public hearing on the creation of
the zone, its benefits to the county and to property in the proposed
zone, and the abatement of ad valorem taxes imposed by the county on
real property located in the zone. At the hearing an interested
person may speak for or against the creation of the zone, its
boundaries, or the abatement of county taxes on real property in the
zone. Not later than the seventh day before the date of the
hearing, notice of the hearing must be published in a newspaper
having general circulation in the county.
(e) The order or resolution designating an area as a
transportation reinvestment zone must:
(1) describe the boundaries of the zone with
sufficient definiteness to identify with ordinary and reasonable
certainty the territory included in the zone;
(2) provide that the zone takes effect immediately on
adoption of the order or resolution; and
(3) assign a name to the zone for identification, with
the first zone created by a county designated as "Transportation
Reinvestment Zone Number One,
County of (name of county)," and subsequently created zones
assigned names in the same form numbered consecutively in the order
of their creation.
(f) Fulfilling the requirements of this section shall
constitute designation of an area as a transportation reinvestment
zone without further hearings or other procedural requirements.
(g) The commissioners court by order or resolution may enter
into an agreement with the owner of any real property located in the
transportation reinvestment zone to abate a portion of the ad
valorem taxes imposed by the county on the owner's property. In the
alternative, the commissioners court by order or resolution may
elect to abate a portion of the ad valorem taxes imposed by the
county on all real property located in the zone. In any ad valorem
tax year, the total amount of the taxes abated under this section
may not exceed the amount calculated under Subsection (a)(1) for
that year.
(h) To assist the county in complying with the terms or
conditions of an agreement with the department under Section
222.104, a road utility district may be formed under Chapter 441
that has the same boundaries as a transportation reinvestment zone
created under this section.
(i) In any ad valorem tax year, a road utility district
formed as provided by Subsection (h) may impose taxes on property in
the district at a rate that when applied to the property in the
district would impose taxes
in an amount equal to the amount of taxes abated by the
commissioners court of the county under Subsection (g).
Notwithstanding Section 441.192(a), an election is not required to
approve the imposition of the taxes.
(j) A road utility district formed as provided by Subsection
(h) may enter into an agreement with the county to assume the
obligation, if any, of the county to fulfill an agreement with the
department under Sections 222.104 and 222.106 of this chapter. Any
amount paid to the credit of the transportation reinvestment fund
under this subsection is considered to be an operating expense of
the district. Any taxes collected by the district that are not paid
to the department under this subsection may be used for any district
purpose.
(k) A tax abatement agreement entered into under Subsection
(g), or an order or resolution on the abatement of taxes under that
subsection, terminates on December 31 of the year in which the
county ceases to be required to make reimbursement payments to the
department under the agreement entered into under Section 222.104.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.