Honorable Lyle Larson, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2369 by Nevárez (relating to municipal fees charged to public school districts for water and sewer service.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Water Code relating to municipal fees charged to public school districts for water and sewer service.
The bill permits a public school district to appeal to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) a fee charged to the district by a municipality for water and sewer service, even if the fee is set by provisions of a resolution, ordinance, or agreement. The bill requires PUC to fix the fee if it finds that it does not align with statute.
The bill prohibits municipally owned water or sewer utility from charging a public school district a fee based on the number of students or employees in the district in addition to the rates the utility charges the district for the service. The bill requires municipally owned utilities to provide refunds to public school districts that were charged fees after September 1, 2009 that were based on number of district employees or students.
Based on the analysis of the PUC and the Texas Education Agency (TEA), duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing resources.
The bill would take effect immediately upon receipt of a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house; otherwise, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2017.
Local Government Impact
According to TEA, public school districts would benefit from possibly reduced utility costs. Additionally, certain districts would be able to seek reimbursement from utilities over past billing rates based on student or employee numbers which are out of compliance with this bill.
According to the Texas Municipal League, the fiscal impact to municipalities cannot be determined at this time.
Source Agencies:
473 Public Utility Commission of Texas, 701 Texas Education Agency