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SECTION 1. Subchapter E,
Chapter 222, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 222.01071 to read as follows:
(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.
No
equivalent provision.
(b) The county may pledge its tax increment to a
specific transportation project pursuant to a
contract and that pledge shall constitute a debt as defined in Sec. 26.03
(7), Tax Code.
A county may not pledge property
tax increments authorized in this section as security for bonded
indebtedness.
(c)(i) The commissioners court of the county, after
determining that an area is affected by oil and gas exploration and
production activities and would benefit from
funding provided under Chapter 256, Subchapter C, Transportation Code, 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.
(ii) A county may form a transportation reinvestment zone under this Section in conjunction with
another county or counties provided each
county meets all procedural requirements for establishment of such a zone.
(d) The commissioners
court must comply with all applicable laws in the application of this
chapter.
(e) Not later than the
30th 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. At the
hearing an interested person may speak for or against the designation of
the zone, its boundaries, or the from benefit
that will arise from dedicating the increment county taxes on real property
in the zone to certain transportation projects. Not later than the
seventh day before the date of the hearing, notice of the hearing and the
intent to create a zone must be published in a newspaper having general
circulation in the county.
(f) 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 that
the base year shall be the year of passage of the order or resolution or
some year in the future;
(3) assign a name to the
zone for identification, with the first zone designated by a county
designated as "Transportation Reinvestment Zone Number One, County of (name of county)," and
subsequently designated zones assigned names in the same form numbered
consecutively in the order of their designation;
(4) designate the base year for purposes of establishing the tax
increment base of the county; and
(5) establish an ad
valorem tax increment account for the zone.
(6) name a board of directors for the zone who shall receive no fees for service nor per
diems, and who shall be named by the county judge and approval by the
commissioners as follows:
(i) if a single county zone, the board shall be comprised of the
county judge, a county commissioner, two representatives of oil and gas
companies that are performing company activities in the county and
representing a local tax payer, and a member of the public active in civic
affairs who is a beneficiary of the energy development activity;
(ii) if a multi county zone, the board shall be comprised of the
representatives listed in Section
222.1071(f)(i) representing each county participating in the multi county
zone;
(iii) members of the board of directors for a multi county zone are
not subject to approval by any county other than itself.
(g) Compliance with the
requirements of this section constitutes designation of an area as a
transportation reinvestment zone without further hearings or other
procedural requirements.
(h) The commissioners court may from taxes collected
on property in a zone, pay into a tax increment account for the zone an
amount equal to the tax increment produced by the county less any amounts
allocated under previous agreements, including agreements under Section 381.004,
Local Government Code, or Chapter 312, Tax Code;
(i) In the alternative,
to assist the county in developing a transportation project, if authorized
by the commission under Chapter 441, a road utility district may be formed
under that chapter that has the same boundaries as a transportation
reinvestment zone created under this section.
(i-1) In the event a
county collects a tax increment, it may pledge its tax increments to the
road utility district which then is authorized to issue bonds to pay all or
part of the cost of a transportation project and may pledge and assign all
or a specified amount of money in the tax increment account to secure those
bonds.
(j) A road utility
district formed as provided by Subsection (i) may enter into an agreement
to fund development of a project or to repay funds owed to the department.
Any amount paid for this purpose is considered to be an operating expense
of the district. Any taxes collected by the district that are not paid for
this purpose may be used for any district purpose.
(j-1) To accommodate
changes in the limits of the project for which a reinvestment zone was designated, the boundaries of a zone may
be amended at any time, except that property may not be removed or excluded from a designated zone if any
part of the assessment has been assigned or pledged directly by the county
or through another entity to secure bonds or other obligations issued to
obtain funding of the project, and property may not be added to a designated zone unless the commissioners
court of the county complies with Subsections (e) and (f).
(k) A transportation
reinvestment zone terminates on December 31 of the 10th year after the year
the zone was designated, if before that date the county has not used the
zone for the purpose for which it was designated.
No
equivalent provision.
No
equivalent provision.
No
equivalent provision.
(See also added Sec.
222.01071(f)(6), Transportation Code, above.)
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SECTION 1. Subchapter E,
Chapter 222, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Sections 222.1071 and 222.1072 to read as follows:
No
equivalent provision.
Sec. 222.1071. COUNTY
ENERGY TRANSPORTATION REINVESTMENT ZONES. (a) A county shall determine
the amount of the tax increment for a county energy transportation
reinvestment zone in the same manner the county would determine the tax
increment as provided in Section 222.107(a) for a county transportation
reinvestment zone.
(j) The commissioners court may pledge money in the tax increment account:
(1) to provide funding for one or more specified
transportation projects located in the zone;
and
(2) to a road utility district formed as provided by Subsection (k).
(i) Tax increment paid into a tax increment account may not be
pledged as security for bonded indebtedness.
(b) A county, after determining that an area is
affected by oil and gas exploration and production activities,
by order or resolution of the commissioners court:
(1) may designate a
contiguous geographic area in the jurisdiction of the county to be a county energy transportation reinvestment
zone to promote one or more specified transportation
projects located in the zone; and
(2) may jointly administer a county energy transportation
reinvestment zone in conjunction with another county or counties, as provided by
Subsection (o).
(c) A commissioners court
must comply with all applicable laws in the application of this chapter.
(d) Not later than the
30th day before the date a commissioners court proposes to designate an
area as a county energy transportation
reinvestment zone under this section, the commissioners court must hold a
public hearing on the creation of the zone and its benefits to the county
and to property in the proposed zone. At the hearing an interested person
may speak for or against the designation of the zone, its boundaries, the joint administration of a zone in another
county, or the use of tax increment paid into the tax increment account.
(e) Not later than the
seventh day before the date of the hearing, notice of the hearing and the
intent to create a zone must be published in a newspaper having general
circulation in the county.
(f) The order or
resolution designating an area as a county
energy 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 that
the base year shall be the year of passage of the order or resolution or
some year in the future;
(3) assign a name to the
zone for identification, with the first zone designated by a county
designated as "County Energy
Transportation Reinvestment Zone Number One, (name of county)," and
subsequently designated zones assigned names in the same form numbered
consecutively in the order of their designation;
(4) establish an ad
valorem tax increment account for the zone or
provide for the establishment of a joint ad valorem tax increment account,
if applicable; and
(5) name the advisory board for the zone or the county's members on a joint advisory board, as applicable, as provided by Section
222.1072.
(See also added Sec. 222.1072,
Transportation Code, below.)
(g) Compliance with the
requirements of this section constitutes designation of an area as a county energy transportation reinvestment
zone without further hearings or other procedural requirements.
(h) The county may, from taxes collected on property
in a zone, pay into a tax increment account for the zone or zones an amount equal to the tax
increment produced by the county less any amounts allocated under previous
agreements, including agreements under Section 381.004, Local Government
Code, or Chapter 312, Tax Code.
(See Subsecs. (i) and (j)
above.)
(k) In the alternative,
to assist the county in developing a transportation project, if authorized
by the commission under Chapter 441, a road utility district may be formed
under that chapter that has the same boundaries as a county energy transportation reinvestment
zone created under this section. The road utility district may issue bonds
to pay all or part of the cost of a transportation project and may pledge
and assign all or a specified amount of money in the tax increment account
to secure those bonds if the county:
(1) collects a tax
increment; and
(2) pledges all or a
specified amount of the tax increment to the road utility district.
(l) A road utility
district formed as provided by Subsection (k) may enter into an agreement
to fund development of a project or to repay funds owed to the department.
Any amount paid for this purpose is considered to be an operating expense
of the district. Any taxes collected by the district that are not paid for
this purpose may be used for any district purpose.
(m) To accommodate
changes in the limits of the project for which a zone was designated, the
boundaries of a zone may be amended at any time, except that property may
not be added to a zone unless the commissioners court of the county
complies with Subsections (d), (e), and (f).
(n) A county energy transportation reinvestment
zone terminates on December 31 of the 10th year after the year the zone was
designated, if before that date the county has not used the zone for the
purpose for which it was designated.
(o) The commissioners
courts of two or more counties that have designated a county energy
transportation reinvestment zone under this section for the same
transportation project or projects may enter into an agreement to provide
for the joint administration of the zones.
(p) The commissioners
court of a county may enter into an agreement with the department to
designate a county energy transportation reinvestment zone under this section
for a specified transportation project involving a state highway located in
the proposed zone.
Sec. 222.1072. ADVISORY
BOARD OF COUNTY ENERGY TRANSPORTATION REINVESTMENT ZONE. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), the advisory board of a county energy
transportation reinvestment zone consists of the following members
appointed by the county judge and approved by the county commissioners
court:
(1) three oil and gas
company representatives who perform company activities in the county and
are local taxpayers; and
(2) two public members
who are active in civic affairs.
(b) County energy
transportation reinvestment zones that are jointly administered are advised
by a single joint advisory board for the zones. A joint advisory board
under this subsection consists of members appointed under Subsection (a)
for each zone to be jointly administered.
(c) An advisory board
member may not receive compensation for service on the board or
reimbursement for expenses incurred in performing services as a member.
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SECTION 2. Chapter 222,
Transportation Code, is amended as follows:
Sec. 222.110. SALES TAX
INCREMENT. (a) In this section, "sales tax base" for a
transportation reinvestment zone means the amount of sales and use taxes
imposed by a municipality under Section 321.101(a), Tax Code, or by a
county under Chapter 323, Tax Code, as applicable, attributable to the zone
for the year in which the zone was designated under this chapter.
(b) The governing body of
a municipality or county may determine, in an ordinance or order
designating an area as a transportation reinvestment zone or in an
ordinance or order adopted subsequent to the designation of a zone, the
portion or amount of tax increment generated from the sales and use taxes
imposed by a municipality under Section 321.101(a), Tax Code, or by a
county under Chapter 323, Tax Code, attributable to the zone, above the
sales tax base, to be used as provided by Subsection (e). Nothing in this
section requires a municipality or county to contribute sales tax increment
under this subsection.
(c) A county that
designates a portion or amount of sales tax increment under Subsection (b)
must establish a tax increment account. A municipality or county shall
deposit the designated portion or amount of tax increment under Subsection
(b) to the entity's respective tax increment account.
(d) Before pledging or
otherwise committing money in the tax increment account under Subsection
(c), the governing body of a municipality or county may enter into an
agreement, under Subchapter E, Chapter 271, Local Government Code, to
authorize and direct the comptroller to:
(1) withhold from any
payment to which the municipality or county may be entitled the amount of
the payment into the tax increment account under Subsection (b);
(2) deposit that amount
into the tax increment account; and
(3) continue withholding
and making additional payments into the tax increment account until an
amount sufficient to satisfy the amount due has been met.
(e) The sales and use
taxes to be deposited into the tax increment account under this section may
be disbursed from the account only to:
(1) pay for projects
authorized under Section 222.104, including the repayment of amounts owed
under an agreement entered into under that section; and
(2) notwithstanding
Sections 321.506 and 323.505, Tax Code, satisfy claims of holders of tax
increment bonds, notes, or other obligations issued or incurred for
projects authorized under Section 222.104 and
Section 222.1071.
(f) The amount deposited
by a county to a tax increment account under this section is not considered
to be sales and use tax revenue for the purpose of property tax reduction
and computation of the county tax rate under Section 26.041, Tax Code.
(g) Not later than the
30th day before the date the governing body of a municipality or county
proposes to designate a portion or amount of sales tax increment under
Subsection (b), the governing body shall hold a public hearing on the
designation of the sales tax increment. At the hearing an interested person
may speak for or against the designation of the sales tax increment. 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 or municipality, as appropriate.
(h) The hearing required
under Subsection (g) may be held in conjunction with a hearing held under
Section 222.106(e) or 222.107(e) if the ordinance or order designating an
area as a transportation reinvestment zone under Section 222.106 or 222.107
also designates a sales tax increment under Subsection (b).
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SECTION 2. Section
222.110(e), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) The sales and use taxes
to be deposited into the tax increment account under this section may be
disbursed from the account only to:
(1) pay for projects
authorized under Section 222.104, including the repayment of amounts owed
under an agreement entered into under that section; and
(2) notwithstanding Sections
321.506 and 323.505, Tax Code, satisfy claims of holders of tax increment
bonds, notes, or other obligations issued or incurred for projects
authorized under Section 222.104 or
222.1071.
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SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 252, Transportation
Code, is amended by adding Section 252.314 to read as follows:
Sec. 252.314. DONATIONS.
(a) A commissioners court or the county road
department may accept donations of labor, money, or other property
to aid in the building or maintaining of roads in the county.
(b) A county operating
under the county road department system on September 1, 2013, may use the
authority granted under this section without holding a new election under
Section 252.301.
(c) A county accepting
donations under Sec. 252.314 must execute a release of liability in favor
of the entity donating the labor, money or other property.
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SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 251, Transportation
Code, is amended by adding Section 251.018 to read as follows:
Sec. 251.018. DONATIONS.
(a) A commissioners court may accept donations of labor, money, or other
property to aid in the building or maintaining of roads, culverts, or bridges in the county if the commissioners court enters into an agreement
of release of liability regarding the donations.
(b) A county operating
under the county road department system on September 1, 2013, may use the
authority granted under this section without holding a new election under
Section 252.301.
No
equivalent provision
(See also added Subsec.
(a) above.)
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