Bill Text: TX HB4011 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the Jones Creek Flood Control and Improvement District; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-15 - Recommendations filed with the Speaker [HB4011 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB4011-Introduced.html

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86R8638 SLB-F
By: Zerwas H.B. No. 4011

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Jones Creek Flood Control and
Improvement District; granting a limited power of eminent domain;
providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle E, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 7814 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7814. JONES CREEK FLOOD CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 7814.0101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the district's board of directors.
(2) "Director" means a member of the board.
(3) "District" means the Jones Creek Flood Control and
Improvement District.
Sec. 7814.0102. NATURE OF DISTRICT. (a) The district is a
conservation and reclamation district as provided by this chapter.
(b) The creation of the district is essential to accomplish
the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 7814.0103. DISTRICT TERRITORY. The district initially
is composed of the territory described as the Jones Creek Watershed
using the National Hydrography Dataset and the Watershed Boundary
Dataset and the remainder of any property any part of which falls
inside the district on the date this chapter takes effect.
Sec. 7814.0104. ANNEXATION OR EXCLUSION OF LAND. (a) The
district may annex land to or may exclude land from the district in
accordance with Subchapter J, Chapter 49, or Subchapter H, Chapter
54, Water Code.
(b) The district is not required to hold an exclusion
hearing.
Sec. 7814.0105. PROVISIONS NOT APPLICABLE. The following
provisions of Chapter 49, Water Code, do not apply to the district:
(1) Section 49.104;
(2) Section 49.1045;
(3) Section 49.152;
(4) Section 49.154;
(5) Section 49.155;
(6) Section 49.219;
(7) Section 49.222;
(8) Section 49.236;
(9) Section 49.2361;
(10) Subchapter F;
(11) Subchapter L; and
(12) Subchapter N.
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 7814.0201. COMPOSITION OF BOARD. The district is
governed by a board of seven elected directors who serve staggered
terms.
Sec. 7814.0202. OFFICERS. (a) The board shall elect from
among its members a president, a vice president, and a
secretary-treasurer at the first board meeting after each
directors' election.
(b) The secretary-treasurer:
(1) is the custodian of district records; and
(2) shall attest to all legal documents executed by
the district.
Sec. 7814.0203. DIRECTOR'S BOND; SECRETARY-TREASURER'S
BOND. (a) Each director shall give bond in the amount of $1,000 for
the faithful performance of the director's duties.
(b) The secretary-treasurer of the district shall give bond
in the amount of $2,500 for the faithful performance of the
secretary-treasurer's duties.
Sec. 7814.0204. OFFICIAL ACTIONS; QUORUM. (a) The board
shall perform official actions by resolution.
(b) A majority of the board constitutes a quorum for the
transaction of any business of the district.
(c) A majority vote of a quorum is sufficient in any
official action, including final passage and enactment of a
resolution.
Sec. 7814.0205. BOARD MEETINGS. (a) The board shall hold
regular meetings at least once every three months. The dates of
regular meetings must be established in the district's bylaws or by
resolution.
(b) The president or any three directors may call a special
meeting as necessary to administer district business. At least
five days before the date of a special meeting, the
secretary-treasurer shall mail notice of the meeting to the address
each director filed with the secretary-treasurer. A director in
writing may waive notices of special meetings.
Sec. 7814.0206. BOARD COMPENSATION FOR ATTENDING MEETINGS.
(a) A director is entitled to receive a fee of $20 for attending
each board meeting and may not be paid more than $40 for meetings
held in one calendar month.
(b) In all areas of conflict with Subsection (a) of this
section, Section 49.060, Water Code, takes precedence.
(c) A director's compensation may be increased as
authorized by Section 49.060, Water Code, by resolution adopted by
the board in accordance with Subsection (e) of that section.
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 7814.0301. FLOOD CONTROL POWERS AND DUTIES. The
district may:
(1) exercise a power, right, privilege, or function
conferred by general law on a flood control district created under
Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, as applicable to Fort
Bend County and essential to the flood control project;
(2) devise plans and construct works to lessen and
control floods;
(3) reclaim land in the district;
(4) prevent the deposit of silt in navigable streams;
(5) remove natural or artificial obstructions from
streams and other watercourses;
(6) regulate the flow of surface and floodwaters;
(7) provide drainage essential to the flood control
project;
(8) acquire, by gift, devise, purchase, or
condemnation:
(A) land;
(B) a right or interest in land; or
(C) any other character of property needed to
carry on the work of flood control;
(9) sell, trade, or otherwise dispose of land or other
property, or a right in the property, no longer needed for the flood
control project or flood control purposes;
(10) use the bed and banks of a bayou, river, or stream
in the district, subject to the requirements of the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality;
(11) authorize its officers, employees, or agents to
enter any land in the district to make or examine a survey in
connection with a flood control plan or project or for any other
authorized purpose;
(12) overflow or inundate any public land or public
property, and require the relocation of a road or highway, in the
manner and to the extent permitted to a district organized under
general law under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution,
subject to the requirements of the state agency with jurisdiction
over the land or property or the Texas Transportation Commission,
as applicable;
(13) appoint a flood control manager and any agents or
employees of the counties as necessary for flood control purposes,
including an engineer and counsel, prescribe their duties, and set
the amounts of their bonds and compensation;
(14) cooperate or contract with the United States to
receive and use money from a grant, loan, or advancement to exercise
a power or further a purpose under this chapter;
(15) contribute to the United States in connection
with any project undertaken by the United States that affects or
relates to flood control in Fort Bend County;
(16) cooperate or contract with an agency or political
subdivision of this state, including a municipality in Fort Bend
County, in relation to:
(A) a survey;
(B) the acquisition of land or a right-of-way; or
(C) the construction, maintenance, or financing
of all or part of a project in connection with any matter within the
scope of this chapter;
(17) contract with an agency or political subdivision
of this state, including a municipality in Fort Bend County, for the
imposition of taxes on behalf of and for the benefit of the
district;
(18) sue and be sued under the laws of this state; and
(19) perform any act necessary or proper to carry out
the powers described by this section or Section 7814.0302.
Sec. 7814.0302. CONTRACTS AND WARRANTS. The district may
enter into contracts and issue warrants payable from current funds
under the applicable provisions of Chapter 252, Local Government
Code, that relate to a municipality with a population of less than
5,000, to the extent those provisions are not in conflict with this
chapter.
Sec. 7814.0303. EASEMENT OVER AND RELOCATION OF ROADS. The
district has a right-of-way and easement over and across a road or
highway of this state or a subdivision of this state for the
construction or maintenance of a district flood control project,
subject to the requirements of the Texas Transportation Commission
if the project requires the relocation or bridging of a state
highway.
Sec. 7814.0304. MAINTENANCE OF FEDERAL FLOOD CONTROL
PROJECTS. The district is entitled to maintain a flood control
project constructed in Fort Bend County by the United States if the
project:
(1) extends wholly or partly into the district or is
within five miles of the boundaries of the district; and
(2) is considered by the board to protect property in
the district.
Sec. 7814.0305. EMINENT DOMAIN. The district may exercise
the power of eminent domain inside district boundaries to acquire
property or an interest in property of any kind that is necessary or
convenient for the district to exercise a right, power, privilege,
or function conferred on the district by this chapter.
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 7814.0401. GRANTS AND GIFTS. A district may make or
accept from any source grants, gratuities, advances, and loans in
any form approved by the board, including any governmental entity,
any private or public corporation, and any other person and may make
and enter into contracts, agreements, and covenants the board
considers appropriate in connection with acceptance of grants,
gratuities, advances, and loans.
Sec. 7814.0402. DEPOSITORY. The board may select one or
more depositories.
Sec. 7814.0403. INVESTMENT OF DISTRICT MONEY. District
money may be invested by the board or the board's designee under
Subchapter E, Chapter 49, Water Code.
Sec. 7814.0404. EXPENDITURES. An expenditure of the
district must be made by check signed by two directors.
SUBCHAPTER E. BONDS
Sec. 7814.0501. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS. To carry out a
power the district is authorized to perform, the district may issue
bonds payable from and secured by:
(1) ad valorem taxes;
(2) all or part of the net revenue of the
income-producing properties of the district, as specified by the
board, after deducting reasonable expenses for maintenance,
operation, and administration; or
(3) ad valorem taxes and the net revenue described by
Subdivision (2).
Sec. 7814.0502. BOND ELECTION REQUIRED. The district may
issue bonds only if the bonds are authorized by a majority of the
district voters voting at an election called by the board.
Sec. 7814.0503. NOTICE OF BOND ELECTION. (a) Except as
otherwise provided by this section, notice of a bond election must
be given in the manner required of bond elections in water control
and improvement districts.
(b) The notice must be published once a week for two
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
district. Publication of the first notice must be not later than
the 14th day before the date of the election.
(c) The notice is not required to state any summary of
engineers or other estimates of cost.
Sec. 7814.0504. REFUNDING BONDS. (a) The district may
issue refunding bonds to refund:
(1) outstanding bonds issued by the district and
interest on those bonds; or
(2) outstanding bonds of the city assumed by the
district.
(b) Refunding bonds may:
(1) be issued to refund more than one series of
outstanding district bonds, including bonds assumed by the
district;
(2) combine the pledges of net revenue, taxes, or
both, that secure the outstanding bonds for the security of the
refunding bonds; and
(3) be secured by a pledge of other or additional
revenue.
(c) Refunding bonds may be combined and issued jointly with
new money bonds to be issued and sold to carry out a power for which
the district may issue bonds.
(d) The comptroller shall register the refunding bonds on
the surrender and cancellation of the bonds to be refunded.
(e) Instead of issuing bonds to be registered on the
surrender and cancellation of the bonds to be refunded, the
district, in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the
refunding bonds, may provide for the sale of the refunding bonds and
the deposit of the proceeds in a bank at which the bonds to be
refunded are payable. In that case, the refunding bonds may be
issued in an amount sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds to
be refunded to their option date or maturity date, and the
comptroller shall register the refunding bonds without the
surrender and cancellation of the bonds to be refunded.
Sec. 7814.0505. BOND APPROVAL. The board is not required
to secure the approval of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality for district bonds.
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County shall
appoint seven persons as the temporary directors of the Jones Creek
Flood Control and Improvement District.
(b) The temporary directors appointed under Subsection (a)
of this section shall:
(1) serve until directors have been elected at an
election called under this section and those directors have
qualified for office; and
(2) order an election to be held on the next uniform
election date in the Jones Creek Flood Control and Improvement
District for the election of directors for the district.
(c) The directors elected at the election ordered under
Subsection (b) of this section shall draw lots to determine which
three directors shall serve two-year terms and which four directors
shall serve four-year terms.
(d) This section expires January 1, 2022.
SECTION 3. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 4. If this Act does not receive a two-thirds vote of
all the members elected to each house, Subchapter C, Chapter 7814,
Special District Local Laws Code, as added by Section 1 of this Act,
is amended by striking Section 7814.0305 and substituting Section
7814.0305 to read as follows:
Sec. 7814.0305. NO EMINENT DOMAIN POWER. The district may
not exercise the power of eminent domain.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.