TO:	Honorable DeWayne Burns, Chair, House Committee on Land & Resource Management
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB5382 by Wilson (Relating to the creation of the Jarrell Estates Municipal Utility District No. 1; granting a limited power of eminent domain; 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 Jarrell Estates Municipal Utility District No. 1 (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.

The 2020 population estimate for areas of Williamson County served by small water systems or private wells (‘County-Other') was 24,069. The Williamson County-Other population projections adopted for the 2022 State Water Plan projects the population to grow to 26,295 in 2030 and 61,294 in 2040.

Location: The proposed district's initial boundaries are described with a combination of Original Texas Land Surveys, Official Public Records, Deed Records, 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.

Due to insufficient district information in the bill, staff are unable to determine the approximate size of the proposed district. The proposed district appears to be in northern Williamson County, located northeast of the City of Florence, and northwest of the City of Jarrell.

Comments on Powers/Duties from Similar Types of Districts: The District must receive consent to the creation of the District from each municipality in whose corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction the District is located prior to holding a confirmation election. 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 bill grants the District authority for road projects. The bill allows the District to divide, as long as the district has never issued any bonds and is not imposing ad valorem taxes. The bill states that Section 49.107(f), Water Code, does not apply to reimbursements for road projects.  Section 49.107 relates to a district using operating and maintenance tax revenue to reimburse a developer. The bill specifies that at the time of issuance, the total principal amount of bonds or other obligations issued or incurred to finance road projects and payable from ad valorem taxes may not exceed one-fourth of the assessed value of real property in the District. The District may not exercise the power of eminent domain if the bill does not receive a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each house.

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 Williamson County, 77% of the total water use was supplied by surface water, and municipal was the largest volume water use category comprising 97% of the county total water use in 2020. The water source the proposed district might pursue is unknown.