By: Rodriguez of Travis (Senate Sponsor - Watson) H.B. No. 3350
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2013;
  May 10, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Intergovernmental Relations; May 21, 2013, reported favorably by
  the following vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 21, 2013, sent to
  printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to homestead preservation districts and reinvestment
  zones.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 373A.051(a), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  To promote and expand the ownership and rental of
  affordable housing and to prevent the involuntary loss of
  homesteads by existing homeowners and renters living in the area,
  the governing body of a municipality by ordinance may designate as a
  homestead preservation district an area in the municipality that is
  eligible under Section 373A.052.
         SECTION 2.  Section 373A.052(a), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  To be designated as a district within a municipality
  described by Section 373A.003(a) under this subchapter, an area
  must be composed of census tracts forming a spatially compact area
  [contiguous to a central business district and] with:
               (1)  fewer than 75,000 [25,000] residents;
               (2)  [fewer than 8,000 households;
               [(3)     a number of owner-occupied households that does
  not exceed 50 percent of the total households in the area;
               [(4)     housing stock at least 55 percent of which was
  built at least 45 years ago;
               [(5)     an unemployment rate that is greater than 10
  percent;
               [(6)]  an overall poverty rate that is at least two
  times the poverty rate for the entire municipality; and
               (3) [(7)]  in each census tract within the area, a
  median family income that is less than 80 [60] percent of the median
  family income for the entire municipality.
         SECTION 3.  Section 373A.152, Local Government Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:
         (b)  A county may participate in a homestead preservation
  reinvestment zone established by a municipality under Subsection
  (a) by adopting a final order:
               (1)  agreeing to the creation of the zone, the zone
  boundaries, and the zone termination date specified by the
  municipality under Section 373A.1521(1); and
               (2)  specifying an amount of tax increment to be
  deposited by the county into the tax increment fund that is equal to
  the amount of the tax increment specified by the municipality under
  Section 373A.1521(3).
         SECTION 4.  Section 373A.1522, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 373A.1522.  EFFECTIVE DATE OF ZONE. The zone
  designated by the ordinance adopted under Section 373A.1521 takes
  effect on the date designated by the municipality in the ordinance
  adopted under Section 373A.1521 [on which the county adopts a final
  order:
               [(1)     agreeing to the creation of the zone, the zone
  boundaries, and the zone termination date specified by the
  municipality under Section 373A.1521(1); and
               [(2)     specifying an amount of tax increment to be
  deposited by the county into the tax increment fund that is equal to
  the amount of the tax increment specified by the municipality under
  Section 373A.1521(3)].
         SECTION 5.  Section 373A.155(b), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  If a county elects to participate in a homestead
  preservation reinvestment zone, the [The] county shall pay into the
  tax increment fund for the zone an amount equal to the tax increment
  paid by the municipality as specified in the order adopted under
  Section 373A.152 [373A.1522].
         SECTION 6.  Section 373A.158(a), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If a county elects to participate in a homestead
  preservation reinvestment zone, the [The] county is the only taxing
  unit entitled to receive the annual report prepared under Section
  311.016(a), Tax Code.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
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