TO:	Honorable Garnet Coleman, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs
FROM:	John McGeady, Assistant Director     Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB4676 by Stephenson (Relating to the creation of the Fort Bend County Management District No. 3; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.), As Introduced

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

This bill creates Fort Bend County Management District No. 3 (District) with the powers and duties of a standard municipal management district under Local Government Code Chapter 375.

Population - The very specific description of the proposed boundaries does not allow staff to develop precise population estimates.
     
Population growth in the specific area since the 2010 census is unknown. The 2010 population estimate for areas of Fort Bend County served by small water systems or private wells (County-Other) was 41,707. The Fort Bend County-Other population projections adopted for the 2022 State Water Plan projects the population to grow to 107,087 in 2020 and 146,910 in 2030.
 
Location - The proposed district's initial boundaries are described with a combination of Original Texas Land Surveys, Fort Bend County Official Public Records of Real Property, and metes and bounds. Due to the complexity of these boundaries for the various subareas of the district, staff is only able to determine the general location of the proposed district.
 
The proposed district's area is approximately 1.2 square miles in central Fort Bend County. The proposed district appears to be west of Smithers Lake, near the George Ranch Historical Park along Farm to Market Road No. 762 located in extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Town of Thompsons.
 
Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts:
A director is entitled to receive fees of office and reimbursement for actual expenses provided by Section 49.060, Water Code; Sections 375.069 and 375.070, Local Government Code, do not apply to the board; the bill requires the TCEQ to appoint the five initial temporary directors upon receipt of a petition from the owners of a majority of the assessed value of the real property in the District; the District may develop or finance recreational facilities; this bill grants the District authority for road projects; the District may construct, acquire, improve, maintain, finance, and operate rail facilities and improvements in aid of those facilities for the transport of freight and other cargo; the board by resolution may authorize the creation of a nonprofit corporation with the powers created under Subchapter D, Chapter 431, Transportation Code; the District may contract for or employ peace officers under Section 49.216, Water Code; the District may join and pay dues to a charitable or nonprofit organization that performs a service or provides an activity consistent with the furtherance of a District purpose; the bill allows the District to create economic development programs and exercise economic development powers under Chapter 380, Local Government Code and Subchapter A, Chapter 1509, Government Code; the District may negotiate and enter into a written strategic partnership agreement under Local Government Code Section 43.0751, with a municipality in whose extraterritorial jurisdiction the District is located; the District may negotiate and enter into a written regional participation agreement under Local Government Code Section 43.0754, with a municipality in whose corporate boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction the District is located; the District may acquire, lease, construct, develop, own, operate, and maintain parking facilities; the bill specifies that the District may add or exclude land in the manner provided by Subchapter J, Chapter 49, Water Code; Section 375.044(b), Local Government Code, does not apply to the District; the District may elect to complete an annual financial report in lieu of an annual audit under Section 375.096(a)(6), Local Government Code; the District may not exercise the power of eminent domain; the board may not finance a service or improvement project with assessments under this chapter unless a written petition requesting that service or improvement has been filed with the board; the District may levy an operation and maintenance tax as provided for in Section 49.107 of the Water Code; Section 49.107(h), Water Code states that an operation and maintenance tax to be used for recreational facilities, as defined by Section 49.462, Water Code, levied by a district located in a county with a population of more than 3.3 million or in a county adjacent to that county may not exceed 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property in the District, the bill specifies that this section does not apply to the District; Chapter 49.4645, Water Code, states that the District's outstanding principal debt for recreational facilities cannot exceed one percent of the District's current estimated taxable assessed valuation, the bill specifies that this section does not apply to the District; Section 375.243, Local Government Code, states that the board may not call a bond election unless a written petition has been filed with the board requesting an election, the bill specifies that this section does not apply to the District; the District may impose a hotel occupancy tax for any purpose described by Section 351.101 or 352.101, Tax Code; the board may dissolve the District regardless of whether the District has debt; Section 375.264, Local Government Code, does not apply to the District; if the District has debt when it is dissolved, the District shall remain in existence solely for the purpose of discharging its debts, and the dissolution is effective when all debts have been discharged.

Overlapping Services: 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.

TCEQ's Supervision: As with general law districts, the TCEQ will have general supervisory authority, including bond review authority and review of financial reports.
 
Water Use - Within Fort Bend County, 55% of the total water use was supplied by groundwater (Gulf Coast Aquifer), and municipal was the largest volume water use category comprising 68% of the county total water use in 2016. The water source the proposed district might pursue is unknown.