The Legislative Budget Board, in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined that:

The bill creates the Montgomery County Municipal Utility District No. 145 (the "District") with the powers and duties of a standard municipal utility district under Water Code, Chapters 49 and 54.

Population - The very specific description of the proposed boundaries does not allow staff to develop precise population estimates. Based simply on the Original Texas Land Surveys mentioned in HB 1074, the population as of the 2010 census is estimated to be 2,681.

Population growth in the specific area since the 2010 census is unknown. The 2010 population estimate for areas of Montgomery County served by small systems or private wells ('County-Other') is 185,829. The Montgomery County-Other population projections approved for the 2016 Region H Water Plan projects the population to grow to 293,282 in 2020, 427,682 in 2030 and 585,027 in 2040.

Location - The Proposed districts initial boundaries are described with a combination of Original Texas Land Surveys, Montgomery County Real Property Records and metes and bounds. Due to the complexity of these boundaries for the various sub areas of the district, staff is able to determine only the general location of the proposed district.

The proposed district's area is approximately 11.5 square miles in northeast    Montgomery County, located to the east of the City of Conroe, and to the southeast of the City of Willis. The proposed district is in an area just north of the small community of Cut and Shoot, and west of the Sam Houston National Forest. The majority of the proposed district appears to be located within the CCN of Town of Cut and Shoot and could also fall within the CCN of Stone Hedge Utility Co INC.

The bill grants the District road powers; the bill allows the District to divide; and if the bill does not receive a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house, the District may not exercise the power of eminent domain.

TCEQ does not have mapping information for water and/or wastewater providers because this function was transferred from the TCEQ to the Public Utility Commission on September 1, 2014.  As a result, TCEQ is unaware of possible overlapping service providers.

As with general law districts, the TCEQ will have general supervisory authority, including bond review authority and review of financial reports.

Water Use - HB 1074 specifies that "the district has the powers and duties provided by the general law of the state, including Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code, applicable to municipal utili