By: Watson, Zaffirini S.B. No. 1574
 
 
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.