TO:	Honorable Lyle Larson, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources
FROM:	John McGeady, Assistant Director     Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB1422 by Zaffirini (Relating to the creation of the Maxwell Special Utility District; providing authority to issue bonds; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to impose fees and assessments.), As Engrossed

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 Maxwell Special Utility District (District) with the powers and duties of a standard special utility district under Water Code Chapters 49 and 65.

Population -The very specific description of the proposed boundaries does not allow staff to develop precise population estimates.

Based on the Maxwell Water Supply Corporation (WSC) boundary and the existing service connections in the WSC, the 2016 population estimate for areas served by the WSC was approximately 5,300. Population projections for the WSC adopted for the2022 State Water Plan project the population to grow to 5,396 in 2020 and 6,447in 2030.
 
Location - The proposed district's boundaries are described with 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 62.57 square miles in western Caldwell County and southeastern Hays County. The proposed district is located east of the City of San Marcos and west of the City of Lockhart.

Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts:
Engrossed:
The Engrossed version of the bill does not make any changes to the Introduced version of the bill.

Introduced:
The bill specifies that if the creation of the District is confirmed, the Maxwell Water Supply Corporation shall transfer the assets, debts, and contractual rights and obligations to the District; the bill specifies that the District may charge a water service impact fee that is not greater than the capital recovery fee charged by the Maxwell Water Supply Corporation on December 31, 2018; the District may increase the water service impact fee as approved by the TCEQ, or as otherwise provided by law; 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.

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 - Water use for Maxwell Water Supply Corporation for the year 2016 was approximately 480acre-feet with 100% of that as surface water. The water source the proposed district might pursue is unknown.