Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2420 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R5742 KLA-D
2	2	By: McClendon H.B. No. 2420
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to ad valorem and sales and use tax exemptions for
8	8	high-speed passenger rail facilities.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	ARTICLE 1. AD VALOREM TAX EXEMPTION
11	11	SECTION 1.01. Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Tax Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 11.34 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 11.34. HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER RAIL FACILITY. (a) In
14	14	this section:
15	15	(1) "Ancillary facility" means property, equipment,
16	16	or a building that is acquired, installed, or constructed for the
17	17	construction, management, and operation of a high-speed passenger
18	18	rail facility.
19	19	(2) "Earthworks and structures" means an excavation or
20	20	embankment of earth made for a high-speed passenger rail facility,
21	21	including the clearing and grubbing of right-of-way; demolition of
22	22	structures; relocation of utilities, pipelines, and any other
23	23	obstacles in right-of-way; stripping and stockpiling; removal of
24	24	subsoils for embankment or spoil; borrow pits; dressing and seeding
25	25	of slopes; construction of culverts; road crossings; bridges;
26	26	restoration of roadway; drainage in right-of-way or along road
27	27	networks; or restoration of a hydrologic system.
28	28	(3) "Environmental facility" means a facility, an
29	29	improvement, or equipment related to a high-speed passenger rail
30	30	facility that is required for the enhancement or protection of the
31	31	environment or the high-speed passenger rail facility or for the
32	32	mitigation of any adverse environmental effect of the construction,
33	33	operation, or maintenance of the high-speed passenger rail
34	34	facility.
35	35	(4) "High-speed passenger rail" means a rail or
36	36	electromagnetically guided technology that permits the operation
37	37	of rolling stock between scheduled stops at speeds of at least 200
38	38	miles per hour.
39	39	(5) "High-speed passenger rail facility" means any
40	40	real, personal, or mixed property or any interest, right, or power
41	41	in that property that is determined by the owner of the facility to
42	42	be necessary or convenient for the provision of an intercity
43	43	high-speed passenger rail transportation system in this state and
44	44	all property or interests necessary for the financing, refinancing,
45	45	acquiring, purchasing, condemning, constructing, planning,
46	46	designing, engineering, enlarging, reconstructing, remodeling,
47	47	repairing, renovating, extending, improving, bettering,
48	48	furnishing, maintaining, using, or equipping of the system,
49	49	including right-of-way, earthworks and structures, trackwork,
50	50	electrification facilities, train controls, traction power
51	51	systems, rail stations, rolling stock, ancillary facilities,
52	52	environmental facilities, and maintenance facilities.
53	53	(6) "Maintenance facility" includes a workshop,
54	54	service facility, garage, equipment or other storage facility,
55	55	security facility, or personnel facility.
56	56	(7) "Personnel facility" includes temporary or
57	57	transient employee lodging.
58	58	(8) "Right-of-way" means an easement or any other
59	59	interest in real property determined by the owner of a high-speed
60	60	passenger rail facility to be necessary or convenient for the
61	61	trackwork of the facility.
62	62	(9) "Rolling stock" means high-speed electrically
63	63	propelled trains that run on rails or electromagnetic guideways.
64	64	(10) "Station" means a passenger service building,
65	65	terminal, or station, including ticketing facilities, waiting
66	66	areas, platforms, concessions, retail establishments, restaurants,
67	67	elevators, escalators, facilities for handicapped access, access
68	68	roads, parking facilities, baggage handling facilities, local
69	69	maintenance facilities, offices for purposes of the owner of a
70	70	high-speed passenger rail facility, ancillary facilities, and any
71	71	interest in real property necessary or convenient for the listed
72	72	items.
73	73	(11) "Trackwork" means track, track beds, track bed
74	74	preparation, ties, rail fasteners, slabs, rails, emergency
75	75	crossovers, setout tracks, storage tracks, and switches.
76	76	(12) "Traction power systems" means transformers,
77	77	switches, controls, conductors, and any supports necessary to
78	78	provide power to rolling stock.
79	79	(13) "Train controls" includes signaling,
80	80	interlocking equipment, speed monitoring equipment, emergency
81	81	braking systems, central traffic control facilities, and
82	82	communication systems.
83	83	(b) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of a
84	84	high-speed passenger rail facility owned by the person.
85	85	(c) A high-speed passenger rail facility may not be exempted
86	86	under this section for more than 50 years.
87	87	SECTION 1.02. Section 11.43(c), Tax Code, is amended to
88	88	read as follows:
89	89	(c) An exemption provided by Section 11.13, 11.17, 11.18,
90	90	11.182, 11.183, 11.19, 11.20, 11.21, 11.22, 11.23(h), (j), or
91	91	(j-1), 11.29, 11.30, [or] 11.31, or 11.34, once allowed, need not be
92	92	claimed in subsequent years, and except as otherwise provided by
93	93	Subsection (e), the exemption applies to the property until it
94	94	changes ownership or the person's qualification for the exemption
95	95	changes. However, the chief appraiser may require a person allowed
96	96	one of the exemptions in a prior year to file a new application to
97	97	confirm the person's current qualification for the exemption by
98	98	delivering a written notice that a new application is required,
99	99	accompanied by an appropriate application form, to the person
100	100	previously allowed the exemption.
101	101	SECTION 1.03. This article applies only to ad valorem taxes
102	102	imposed for a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
103	103	SECTION 1.04. This article takes effect January 1, 2010,
104	104	but only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 81st
105	105	Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, authorizing the legislature to
106	106	exempt from ad valorem taxation a high-speed passenger rail
107	107	facility is approved by the voters. If that amendment is not
108	108	approved by the voters, this article has no effect.
109	109	ARTICLE 2. SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTION
110	110	SECTION 2.01. Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is
111	111	amended by adding Section 151.3312 to read as follows:
112	112	Sec. 151.3312. HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER RAIL FACILITY. (a) In
113	113	this section, "high-speed passenger rail facility," "rolling
114	114	stock," "trackwork," and "train controls" have the meanings
115	115	assigned by Section 11.34.
116	116	(b) The sale or storage, use, or other consumption of the
117	117	following items is exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter:
118	118	(1) tangible personal property for the construction or
119	119	operation of, or that will become an ingredient or component part
120	120	of, a high-speed passenger rail facility, including rolling stock,
121	121	trackwork, and train controls; and
122	122	(2) services to construct a high-speed passenger rail
123	123	facility.
124	124	SECTION 2.02. The change in law made by this article does
125	125	not affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this
126	126	Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been
127	127	enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
128	128	collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
129	129	the liability for those taxes.
130	130	ARTICLE 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
131	131	SECTION 3.01. Except as otherwise provided by this Act,
132	132	this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.