BILL ANALYSIS
By: Creighton
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, a petition to create a fresh water supply district must be signed by 50 or a majority of electors of the proposed district who own land in the proposed district. However, as new districts are created, there are very few instances in which a proposed district has 50 residents. In most cases, a majority of land is held by someone who does not live in the proposed district but plans to develop the area. To address this issue, H.B. 2983 amends the petition requirements for the creation of a fresh water supply district and makes fresh water supply district petition requirements similar to the requirements that already exist for water control and improvement districts and municipal utility districts.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
Section 53.014, Water Code, is amended to provide that the petition for the creation of a fresh water supply district be signed by a majority of people who own land in the proposed district that represents a total value of at least 50% of the value of all the land in the proposed district. This is determined by the appraisal roll of the appraisal district in which the proposed district is located. If there are more than 50 people who own land in the proposed district, the petition is sufficient if signed by 50 of those people. This does not apply to petitions for the creation of districts that are submitted before the effective date of this act.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2007