H.B. No. 2819

AN ACT

relating to improvement projects of the Sabine-Neches Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas; providing authority to issue anticipation notes and time warrants.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 1472, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section 6B to read as follows:

Sec. 6B. WATERWAY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. (a) In this section:

(1) "Improvement project" means the Sabine-Neches Waterway Improvement Project.

(2) "Project sponsor" has the meaning assigned by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No. 113-121).

(b) The district is the project sponsor of the existing Sabine-Neches Waterway and the improvement project authorized by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No. 113-121) to improve an existing facility of the district and deepen the Sabine-Neches Waterway. The district is also the nonfederal cost-sharing sponsor of the improvement project. The commission shall make a determination on matters that may be required or desirable as a project sponsor to implement the improvement project.

(c) In the district's capacity as the project sponsor of the improvement project, the district is authorized to enter into any contract, agreement, including an economic development agreement, or lease as necessary or convenient to carry out any of the district's powers granted under this section. A contract, agreement, or lease, including any amendments to a contract, agreement, or lease, may provide any terms and conditions, and be for any term of years, as the commission determines are in the best interests of the district. The contract, agreement, or lease may be entered into with any person, political subdivision, or governmental agency, including the United States, the secretary of the army or the secretary of the army's designees, the Army Corps of Engineers, any local government, any county government, any special district or authority, any local government corporation, any transportation corporation, any tax increment reinvestment zone, the State of Texas, any agency of the State of Texas, and any other entity. The district is authorized to enter into contracts with a private entity to develop or operate any part of the improvement project under Chapter 2267, Government Code, and those contracts may provide that the private entity:

(1) perform all or any part of the district's obligations under contracts or agreements with the United States; and

(2) use revenue or other money from the improvement project to prepay for duties or tariffs, including duties or tariffs that may not be effective until the improvement project is partially or wholly completed, which may be credited against future duties or tariffs.

(d) The district may enter into a contract, agreement, or lease under Section 49.108 or 60.120, Water Code, as determined by the commission.

(e) The district is not required to obtain approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the district's contracts or financing related to the improvement project. Any contracts or agreements of the district may be renewed or extended, and any time warrants or maintenance notes may be refunded in the manner provided by general law.

(f) The district may provide that payments required by any of the district's contracts, agreements, or leases may be payable from the sale of notes, taxes, or bonds, or any combination of notes, taxes, or bonds, or may be secured by a lien on or a pledge of any available funds, including proceeds of the district's maintenance tax, and may be payable subject to annual appropriation by the district. Sections 26.04, 26.05, 26.07, and 26.012, Tax Code, do not apply to maintenance taxes levied and collected for payments under a contract, agreement, lease, time warrant, or maintenance note issued or executed under this section.

(g) The district is authorized to borrow money, receive advances of funds, and enter into repayment agreements for the repayment of borrowed money or advances, and to issue anticipation notes, time warrants, and maintenance notes. The anticipation notes may be issued in accordance with Chapter 1431, Government Code, in the same manner as an eligible countywide district. Tax anticipation notes issued under this subsection may not exceed 75 percent of the revenue or taxes anticipated to be collected in that year and shall be payable during the district's current fiscal year. Time warrants and maintenance notes issued under this subsection may be issued to pay for any lawful expenditure of the district and shall be payable over a period not to exceed 35 years from the date of issuance.

(h) The commission shall determine whether the amount of the district's maintenance taxes and other available resources required to pay the district's existing obligations is also sufficient to pay the debt service on any time warrants or maintenance notes issued under this section. In evaluating the tax rate, the commission may include in the district's budget an improvement project fund, which may be funded to assure that adequate funds are available to the district to comply with the district's covenants and obligations during future years when the amounts projected to be needed will exceed the then-current available maintenance tax funds.

SECTION 2. (a) The legal notice of the intention to introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313, Government Code.

(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives within the required time.

(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled and accomplished.

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, 2015.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2819 was passed by the House on May 12, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2819 was passed by the Senate on May 15, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: _____________________

Date

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Governor