| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the use of money in a tax increment fund to pay costs |
|
|
related to public improvements used for social services programs |
|
|
that promote the development or redevelopment of a reinvestment |
|
|
zone. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 311.008, Tax Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) A municipality or county may exercise any power |
|
|
necessary and convenient to carry out this chapter, including the |
|
|
power to: |
|
|
(1) cause project plans to be prepared, approve and |
|
|
implement the plans, and otherwise achieve the purposes of the |
|
|
plan; |
|
|
(2) acquire real property by purchase, condemnation, |
|
|
or other means to implement project plans and sell that property on |
|
|
the terms and conditions and in the manner it considers advisable; |
|
|
(3) enter into agreements, including agreements with |
|
|
bondholders, determined by the governing body of the municipality |
|
|
or county to be necessary or convenient to implement project plans |
|
|
and achieve their purposes, which agreements may include |
|
|
conditions, restrictions, or covenants that run with the land or |
|
|
that by other means regulate or restrict the use of land; and |
|
|
(4) consistent with the project plan for the zone: |
|
|
(A) acquire blighted, deteriorated, |
|
|
deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately developed real |
|
|
property or other property in a blighted area or in a federally |
|
|
assisted new community in the zone for the preservation or |
|
|
restoration of historic sites, beautification or conservation, the |
|
|
provision of public works or public facilities, or other public |
|
|
purposes; |
|
|
(B) acquire, construct, reconstruct, or install |
|
|
public works, facilities, or sites or other public improvements, |
|
|
including utilities, streets, street lights, water and sewer |
|
|
facilities, pedestrian malls and walkways, parks, flood and |
|
|
drainage facilities, or parking facilities, but not including |
|
|
educational facilities; [or] |
|
|
(C) in a reinvestment zone created on or before |
|
|
September 1, 1999, acquire, construct, or reconstruct educational |
|
|
facilities in the municipality; or |
|
|
(D) in a reinvestment zone created in a county |
|
|
that has a population of less than 1.5 million but in which a |
|
|
municipality is primarily located that has a population of at least |
|
|
775,000, acquire, construct, reconstruct, renovate, rehabilitate, |
|
|
install, or equip public improvements used or to be used for social |
|
|
services programs in the zone, including improvements determined by |
|
|
the municipality or county to be beneficial to: |
|
|
(i) providing basic necessities such as |
|
|
food, clothing, shelter, health care, and mental health care; |
|
|
(ii) helping provide individuals and |
|
|
families a transition out of poverty by ensuring the availability |
|
|
of educational, employment, and other services that promote |
|
|
self-reliance; |
|
|
(iii) preventing social problems through |
|
|
education, preventive physical and mental health programs, crime |
|
|
prevention programs, and other preventive programs; |
|
|
(iv) providing family and societal support |
|
|
services, including education, child care, counseling and |
|
|
assistance for the aging, youth, the homeless, and the unemployed, |
|
|
rehabilitation services, and other similar support services; and |
|
|
(v) encouraging personal development and |
|
|
community enrichment through cultural and educational programs. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 311.010, Tax Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows: |
|
|
(b-1) An agreement under Subsection (b) relating to the |
|
|
project plan or the reinvestment zone financing plan for a |
|
|
reinvestment zone described by Section 311.008(b)(4)(D) may: |
|
|
(1) during the term of the agreement dedicate, pledge, |
|
|
or otherwise provide for the use of revenue in the tax increment |
|
|
fund to pay project costs relating to the cost of public |
|
|
improvements described by Section 311.008(b)(4)(D); or |
|
|
(2) dedicate revenue from the tax increment fund to |
|
|
pay the costs of operating or administering programs described by |
|
|
Section 311.008(b)(4)(D). |
|
|
(b-2) A municipality or county may not use revenue from a |
|
|
tax increment fund dedicated, pledged, or otherwise provided for a |
|
|
purpose described by Subsection (b-1) to replace revenue the |
|
|
municipality or county would otherwise have spent from other |
|
|
sources for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2011. |