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

The bill amends Subtitle F, Title 6, Special District Local Laws Code by adding Chapter 8348 to create Brown’s Ranch Municipal Utility District No. 1 of Grayson County (District) with the powers and duties of a municipal utility district under Water Code Chapters 49 and 54. The purpose of the District includes providing works and projects under powers conferred by Article XVI, Section 59 and Article III, Section 52, Texas Constitution to benefit the property within the District.

The District is subject to confirmation election by the voters. The District is subject to consent of all municipalities in whose corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction the district is located. The bill does not name temporary directors. The majority owners of the assessed land value inside the District may submit a petition requesting the TCEQ appoint the five temporary directors listed in the petition.

The bill becomes effective on September 1, 2009.

1)     Population - The proposed district is located in rural Grayson County. According to the 2007 State Water Plan, Grayson County is projected to grow from a population of 110,595 in the year 2000 to 133,913 in 2010 and to 163,711 in 2020. The county-other population of Grayson County was 26,766 people in 2000 and is projected to remain relatively constant through 2020, growing only slightly.

2)     Location - The proposed district is located in north-central Grayson County, near the intersection of Wright Road and Enterprise Road, northwest of Sherman and southwest of Pottsboro. The proposed area does not appear to overlap with any known CCN boundaries.

3) Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts - The District has the power of eminent domain limited to inside the District for road projects or recreational facilities. The District may be divided into two or more districts. The bill gives the District the ability to levy a contract tax.  The bill gives the District the authority to annex land and requires the District to pay for all costs of maintaining and improving a road located within the District.

4) Overlapping Services – The bill provides sufficient metes and bounds for the District’s boundary to form an acceptable closure.

5) TCEQ Supervision - As with general law districts, the TCEQ’s will have general supervisory authority, including bond review authority and review of financial reports.

6) Water Use - Within Grayson County, 41 percent of the water used in 2003 was groundwater. Of this, about 70 percent was for municipal purposes.  The groundwater in Grayson County was drawn almost equally from the Woodbine and Trinity aquifers in 2003.