Bill Text: TX SB2198 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub

---

Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the Chambers County Municipal Utility District No. 7; granting a limited power of eminent domain; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose fees and taxes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2021-05-19 - Committee report printed and distributed [SB2198 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB2198-Comm_Sub.html

---

By: Creighton S.B. No. 2198
(In the Senate - Filed April 12, 2021; April 12, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
May 19, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2021,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2198 By: Paxton

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Chambers County Municipal Utility
District No. 7; granting a limited power of eminent domain;
providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose
fees and taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 7916A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7916A. CHAMBERS COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 7
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 7916A.0101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the district's board of directors.
(2) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(3) "Director" means a board member.
(4) "District" means the Chambers County Municipal
Utility District No. 7.
Sec. 7916A.0102. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
municipal utility district created under Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
Sec. 7916A.0103. CONFIRMATION AND DIRECTOR ELECTION
REQUIRED. The temporary directors shall hold an election to
confirm the creation of the district and to elect five permanent
directors as provided by Section 49.102, Water Code.
Sec. 7916A.0104. CONSENT OF MUNICIPALITY REQUIRED. The
temporary directors may not hold an election under Section
7916A.0103 until each municipality in whose corporate limits or
extraterritorial jurisdiction the district is located has
consented by ordinance or resolution to the creation of the
district and to the inclusion of land in the district.
Sec. 7916A.0105. FINDINGS OF PUBLIC PURPOSE AND BENEFIT.
(a) The district is created to serve a public purpose and benefit.
(b) The district is created to accomplish the purposes of:
(1) a municipal utility district as provided by
general law and Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution; and
(2) Section 52, Article III, Texas Constitution, that
relate to the construction, acquisition, improvement, operation,
or maintenance of macadamized, graveled, or paved roads, or
improvements, including storm drainage, in aid of those roads.
Sec. 7916A.0106. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. (a) The
district is initially composed of the territory described by
Section 2 of the Act enacting this chapter.
(b) The boundaries and field notes contained in Section 2 of
the Act enacting this chapter form a closure. A mistake made in the
field notes or in copying the field notes in the legislative process
does not affect the district's:
(1) organization, existence, or validity;
(2) right to issue any type of bond for the purposes
for which the district is created or to pay the principal of and
interest on a bond;
(3) right to impose a tax; or
(4) legality or operation.
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 7916A.0201. GOVERNING BODY; TERMS. (a) The district
is governed by a board of five elected directors.
(b) Except as provided by Section 7916A.0202, directors
serve staggered four-year terms.
Sec. 7916A.0202. TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. (a) The temporary
board consists of:
(1) Mark Stubbs;
(2) Letecia Balderrama;
(3) Lori Kaiser;
(4) Hannah Keeler Vaughan; and
(5) Lori Pitts.
(b) Temporary directors serve until the earlier of:
(1) the date permanent directors are elected under
Section 7916A.0103; or
(2) the fourth anniversary of the effective date of
the Act enacting this chapter.
(c) If permanent directors have not been elected under
Section 7916A.0103 and the terms of the temporary directors have
expired, successor temporary directors shall be appointed or
reappointed as provided by Subsection (d) to serve terms that
expire on the earlier of:
(1) the date permanent directors are elected under
Section 7916A.0103; or
(2) the fourth anniversary of the date of the
appointment or reappointment.
(d) If Subsection (c) applies, the owner or owners of a
majority of the assessed value of the real property in the district
may submit a petition to the commission requesting that the
commission appoint as successor temporary directors the five
persons named in the petition. The commission shall appoint as
successor temporary directors the five persons named in the
petition.
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 7916A.0301. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. The district
has the powers and duties necessary to accomplish the purposes for
which the district is created.
Sec. 7916A.0302. MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT POWERS AND
DUTIES. The district has the powers and duties provided by the
general law of this state, including Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code,
applicable to municipal utility districts created under Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 7916A.0303. AUTHORITY FOR ROAD PROJECTS. Under
Section 52, Article III, Texas Constitution, the district may
design, acquire, construct, finance, issue bonds for, improve,
operate, maintain, and convey to this state, a county, or a
municipality for operation and maintenance macadamized, graveled,
or paved roads, or improvements, including storm drainage, in aid
of those roads.
Sec. 7916A.0304. ROAD STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS. (a) A
road project must meet all applicable construction standards,
zoning and subdivision requirements, and regulations of each
municipality in whose corporate limits or extraterritorial
jurisdiction the road project is located.
(b) If a road project is not located in the corporate limits
or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, the road
project must meet all applicable construction standards,
subdivision requirements, and regulations of each county in which
the road project is located.
(c) If the state will maintain and operate the road, the
Texas Transportation Commission must approve the plans and
specifications of the road project.
Sec. 7916A.0305. COMPLIANCE WITH MUNICIPAL CONSENT
ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION. The district shall comply with all
applicable requirements of any ordinance or resolution that is
adopted under Section 54.016 or 54.0165, Water Code, and that
consents to the creation of the district or to the inclusion of land
in the district.
Sec. 7916A.0306. DIVISION OF DISTRICT. (a) The district
may be divided into two or more new districts only if the district:
(1) has no outstanding bonded debt; and
(2) is not imposing ad valorem taxes.
(b) This chapter applies to any new district created by the
division of the district, and a new district has all the powers and
duties of the district.
(c) Any new district created by the division of the district
may not, at the time the new district is created, contain any land
outside the area described by Section 2 of the Act enacting this
chapter.
(d) The board, on its own motion or on receipt of a petition
signed by the owner or owners of a majority of the assessed value of
the real property in the district, may adopt an order dividing the
district.
(e) The board may adopt an order dividing the district
before or after the date the board holds an election under Section
7916A.0103 to confirm the district's creation.
(f) An order dividing the district shall:
(1) name each new district;
(2) include the metes and bounds description of the
territory of each new district;
(3) appoint temporary directors for each new district;
and
(4) provide for the division of assets and liabilities
between or among the new districts.
(g) On or before the 30th day after the date of adoption of
an order dividing the district, the district shall file the order
with the commission and record the order in the real property
records of each county in which the district is located.
(h) Any new district created by the division of the district
shall hold a confirmation and directors' election as required by
Section 7916A.0103. If the voters of a new district do not confirm
the creation of the new district, the assets, obligations,
territory, and governance of the new district revert to the
original district.
(i) Municipal consent to the creation of the district and to
the inclusion of land in the district granted under Section
7916A.0104 acts as municipal consent to the creation of any new
district created by the division of the district and to the
inclusion of land in the new district.
(j) Any new district created by the division of the district
must hold an election as required by this chapter to obtain voter
approval before the district may impose a maintenance tax or issue
bonds payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes.
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 7916A.0401. ELECTIONS REGARDING TAXES OR BONDS. (a)
The district may issue, without an election, bonds and other
obligations secured by:
(1) revenue other than ad valorem taxes; or
(2) contract payments described by Section
7916A.0403.
(b) The district must hold an election in the manner
provided by Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code, to obtain voter approval
before the district may impose an ad valorem tax or issue bonds
payable from ad valorem taxes.
(c) The district may not issue bonds payable from ad valorem
taxes to finance a road project unless the issuance is approved by a
vote of a two-thirds majority of the district voters voting at an
election held for that purpose.
Sec. 7916A.0402. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) If
authorized at an election held under Section 7916A.0401, the
district may impose an operation and maintenance tax on taxable
property in the district in accordance with Section 49.107, Water
Code.
(b) The board shall determine the tax rate. The rate may not
exceed the rate approved at the election.
Sec. 7916A.0403. CONTRACT TAXES. (a) In accordance with
Section 49.108, Water Code, the district may impose a tax other than
an operation and maintenance tax and use the revenue derived from
the tax to make payments under a contract after the provisions of
the contract have been approved by a majority of the district voters
voting at an election held for that purpose.
(b) A contract approved by the district voters may contain a
provision stating that the contract may be modified or amended by
the board without further voter approval.
SUBCHAPTER E. BONDS AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS
Sec. 7916A.0501. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS AND OTHER
OBLIGATIONS. The district may issue bonds or other obligations
payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, impact fees,
revenue, contract payments, grants, or other district money, or any
combination of those sources, to pay for any authorized district
purpose.
Sec. 7916A.0502. TAXES FOR BONDS. At the time the district
issues bonds payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, the
board shall provide for the annual imposition of a continuing
direct ad valorem tax, without limit as to rate or amount, while all
or part of the bonds are outstanding as required and in the manner
provided by Sections 54.601 and 54.602, Water Code.
Sec. 7916A.0503. BONDS FOR ROAD PROJECTS. 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 the
real property in the district.
SECTION 2. The Chambers County Municipal Utility District
No. 7 initially includes all the territory contained in the
following area:
FIELD NOTES being a called 173.477 Acre Tract (7,556,674 square
feet) of land out of and part of the following two (2) Tracts of
land:
1. A called 173.4 acres described as Tract No. 1, in
Warranty Deed with Vendor's Lien from Danny R. Schnautz et al to
Cecil W. Parker, Jr. et ux, dated September 30, 2010, recorded under
County Clerk's Number 2010-59675 of Chambers County Public Records,
Texas.
2. A called 225.3 acres described in Warranty Deed with
Vendor's Lien from Edmond Earl Fergerson et ux to Cecil W. Parker,
Jr., dated December 6, 2016, recorded under County Clerk's Number
2016-117814 of the Official Public Records of Chambers County,
Texas.
Said 173.477 Acre Tract being situated in the Luke Bryan Survey,
Abstract 41, and J.T. White Survey, Abstract 387, Chambers County,
Texas and being more particularly described by metes and bounds as
follows:
COMMENING at a point the easterly right-of-way line of State
Highway 61 (100 foot wide) being at the northwest corner of a called
20.00 Acre Tract, described in Warranty Deed with Vendor's Lien,
from Cecil William Parker, Jr to Ybarra-Mitchell Property Group,
LLC, dated February 15, 2018, recorded under Chambers County
Clerk's File Number 2018-129523 of Chamber County Official Public
Records. Said point being the POINT OF BEGINNING having the State
Plane Coordinates of N: 13,875,224.88 and E: 3,348,102.41.
THENCE North 85° 26' 47" East, along the north line of said 20.00
Acre Tract, a distance of 1,506.60 feet to the northeast corner of
said called 20.00 Acre Tract and the northwest corner and the POINT
OF BEGINNING of the herein described tract of land;
THENCE North 85° 26' 47" East, along the south line of J.T. White
League, Abstract 300 and the common north line of said called 173.4
Acre Tract and the Luke Bryan Survey, Abstract 41, at a distance of
4,233.96 to the northeast corner of said called 173.4 Acre Tract and
the northwest corner of J.T. White Survey, Abstract 387, Chambers
County, and the most westerly northwest corner for the said called
225.3 Acre Tract;
THENCE North 87° 04' 48" East, along an interior line of said called
225.3 Acre Tract and the north line of J.T. White Survey, Abstract
387, at a distance of 575.25 feet pass an interior corner of said
called 225.3 Acre Tract, continuing for a total distance of 591.25
feet to a point for the northeast corner of the herein described
tract;
THENCE South 03° 54' 16" East, a distance of 1,473.72 feet to a point
in the south line of said called 225.3 Acre Tract and said point
being the southeast corner of the herein described tract;
THENCE South 87° 05' 02" West, along the south line of said called
225.3 Acre Tract, a distance of 591.25 feet to a point for the
southwest corner of said called 225.3 Acre Tract and an angle point
of the herein described tract;
THENCE North 03° 54' 16" West, along the west line of said called
225.3 Acre Tract, a distance of 40.28 feet to a point for the
southeast corner of said called 173.4 acre tract and for an interior
corner of the herein described tract;
THENCE South 85° 34' 46" West, along and with the south line of said
called 173.4 Acre Tract a distance of 4,831.59 feet to a point in
the easterly right-of-way line of State Highway 61 and same point
being the common southwest corner of said called 173.4 Acre Tract
and of the herein described tract;
THENCE North 37° 29' 13" West, along the easterly right-of-way line
of State Highway 61, a distance of 890.37 feet to the southwest
corner of said called 20.00 Acre Tract and same being the most
westerly northwest corner of the herein described tract;
THENCE North 84° 34' 37" East, along the south line of said called
20.00 Acre Tract, a distance of 1,098.05 feet to a point at the
southeast corner of said called 20.00 Acre Tract same being an
interior corner of the herein described tract;
THENCE North 04° 33' 13" West, along the east line of said called
20.00 Acre Tract, a distance of 658.14 feet to the POINT OF
BEGINNING and containing 173.477 Acre Tract (7,556,674 square
feet) of land more or less.
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. (a) If this Act does not receive a two-thirds
vote of all the members elected to each house, Subchapter C, Chapter
7916A, Special District Local Laws Code, as added by Section 1 of
this Act, is amended by adding Section 7916A.0307 to read as
follows:
Sec. 7916A.0307. NO EMINENT DOMAIN POWER. The district may
not exercise the power of eminent domain.
(b) This section is not intended to be an expression of a
legislative interpretation of the requirements of Section 17(c),
Article I, Texas Constitution.
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, 2021.
* * * * *