H.B. No. 4829
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Harris County Improvement District
No. 17; providing authority to impose an assessment, impose a tax,
and issue bonds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 4, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 3891 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 3891. HARRIS COUNTY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 17
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 3891.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the district's board of directors.
(2) "Director" means a board member.
(3) "District" means the Harris County Improvement
District No. 17.
Sec. 3891.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The Harris County
Improvement District No. 17 is a special district created under
Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 3891.003. PURPOSE; DECLARATION OF INTENT. (a) The
creation of the district is essential to accomplish the purposes of
Sections 52 and 52-a, Article III, and Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution, and other public purposes stated in this
chapter. By creating the district and in authorizing the City of
Houston, Harris County, and other political subdivisions to
contract with the district, the legislature has established a
program to accomplish the public purposes set out in Section 52-a,
Article III, Texas Constitution.
(b) The creation of the district is necessary to promote,
develop, encourage, and maintain employment, commerce,
transportation, housing, tourism, recreation, the arts,
entertainment, economic development, safety, and the public
welfare in the district.
(c) This chapter and the creation of the district may not be
interpreted to relieve Harris County from providing the level of
services provided, as of the effective date of the Act enacting this
chapter, to the area in the district. The district is created to
supplement and not to supplant the county services provided in the
area in the district.
Sec. 3891.004. FINDINGS OF BENEFIT AND PUBLIC PURPOSE. (a)
The district is created to serve a public use and benefit.
(b) All land and other property included in the district
will benefit from the improvements and services to be provided by
the district under powers conferred by Sections 52 and 52-a,
Article III, and Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and
other powers granted under this chapter.
(c) The creation of the district is in the public interest
and is essential to:
(1) further the public purposes of developing and
diversifying the economy of the state;
(2) eliminate unemployment and underemployment; and
(3) develop or expand transportation and commerce.
(d) The district will:
(1) promote the health, safety, and general welfare of
residents, employers, employees, potential employees, visitors,
and consumers in the district, and of the public;
(2) provide needed funding for the district to
preserve, maintain, and enhance the economic health and vitality of
the district territory as a community and business center;
(3) promote the health, safety, welfare, and enjoyment
of the public by providing pedestrian ways and by landscaping and
developing certain areas in the district, which are necessary for
the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of scenic beauty;
and
(4) provide for water, wastewater, drainage, road,
and recreational facilities for the district.
(e) Pedestrian ways along or across a street, whether at
grade or above or below the surface, and street lighting, street
landscaping, parking, and street art objects are parts of and
necessary components of a street and are considered to be a street
or road improvement.
(f) The district will not act as the agent or
instrumentality of any private interest even though the district
will benefit many private interests as well as the public.
Sec. 3891.005. 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 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 the bond;
(3) right to impose or collect an assessment or tax; or
(4) legality or operation.
Sec. 3891.006. ELIGIBILITY FOR INCLUSION IN SPECIAL ZONES.
All or any part of the area of the district is eligible to be
included in:
(1) a tax increment reinvestment zone created under
Chapter 311, Tax Code;
(2) a tax abatement reinvestment zone created under
Chapter 312, Tax Code; or
(3) an enterprise zone created under Chapter 2303,
Government Code.
Sec. 3891.007. APPLICABILITY OF MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT
DISTRICTS LAW. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter,
Chapter 375, Local Government Code, applies to the district.
[Sections 3891.008-3891.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 3891.051. GOVERNING BODY; TERMS. The district is
governed by a board of five directors who serve staggered terms of
four years, with two or three directors' terms expiring June 1 of
each odd-numbered year.
Sec. 3891.052. APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS. (a) The board
shall recommend to the Harris County Commissioners Court persons to
serve on the succeeding board.
(b) After reviewing the board's recommendations of persons
to serve on the succeeding board, the commissioners court shall
appoint as directors or disapprove the recommended persons.
(c) If the governing body of the City of Houston objects to
any of the board's recommendations of persons to serve on the
succeeding board, the board, on the request of the commissioners
court, shall submit additional recommendations.
(d) Board members may serve successive terms.
(e) If any provision of Subsections (a) through (d) is found
to be invalid, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
appoint the succeeding board from recommendations of persons to
serve on the succeeding board submitted by the board.
Sec. 3891.053. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to serve as a
director, a person must meet the qualifications in Section 375.063,
Local Government Code.
Sec. 3891.054. INITIAL DIRECTORS. (a) The initial board
consists of the following voting directors:
Pos. No. Name of Director
1 Joe Bullard
2 Hollis Bullard
3 Tim Culp
4 Joe Fogarty
5 Art DePue
(b) Of the initial directors, the terms of three directors
expire June 1, 2011, and the terms of two directors expire June 1,
2013. The initial directors shall draw lots to determine which two
directors' terms expire June 1, 2013.
(c) Section 3891.052 does not apply to this section.
(d) This section expires September 1, 2014.
[Sections 3891.055-3891.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 3891.101. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. The district has
the powers and duties necessary to accomplish the purposes for
which the district is created.
Sec. 3891.102. MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT POWERS AND DUTIES. The
district has the powers and duties provided by the general laws of
this state, including Chapter 375, Local Government Code,
applicable to a municipal management district created under
Sections 52 and 52-a, Article III, and Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
Sec. 3891.103. DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION POWERS. The
district may exercise the powers given to a development corporation
under Chapter 505, Local Government Code.
Sec. 3891.104. SPORTS VENUE. The district may construct,
acquire, improve, maintain, and operate a sports venue, including
an arena, coliseum, stadium, or other type of area or facility used
for one or more professional or amateur sports or athletic events.
Sec. 3891.105. AGREEMENTS; GRANTS. The district may make
an agreement with or accept a gift, grant, or loan from any person.
Sec. 3891.106. MEMBERSHIP IN CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS. The
district may join and pay dues to a charitable or nonprofit
organization that performs a service or provides an activity
consistent with the furtherance of a district purpose.
Sec. 3891.107. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. (a) The
district may establish and provide for the administration of one or
more programs to promote state or local economic development and to
stimulate business and commercial activity in the district.
(b) The district has all of the economic development
authority that:
(1) Chapter 380, Local Government Code, grants to a
municipality with a population of more than 100,000; and
(2) Chapter 1509, Government Code, grants to a
municipality.
Sec. 3891.108. NO EMINENT DOMAIN. The district may not
exercise the power of eminent domain.
[Sections 3891.109-3891.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 3891.151. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) If
authorized at an election held in accordance with Section 3891.158,
the district may impose an annual operation and maintenance tax on
taxable property in the district in accordance with Section 49.107,
Water Code, for any district purpose, including to:
(1) maintain and operate the district;
(2) construct or acquire improvements; or
(3) provide a service.
(b) The board shall determine the tax rate. The rate may not
exceed the rate approved at the election.
Sec. 3891.152. 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.
Sec. 3891.153. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS AND OTHER
OBLIGATIONS. The district may issue bonds, notes, or other
obligations payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, sales
and use taxes, assessments, impact fees, revenue, contract
payments, grants, or other district money, or any combination of
those sources of money, to pay for any authorized district purpose.
Sec. 3891.154. HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX. (a) The district may
impose a hotel occupancy tax in the manner that Chapter 351, Tax
Code, provides for a municipality.
(b) A tax imposed under this section may not exceed the
maximum rate under Section 351.003(a), Tax Code.
Sec. 3891.155. SALES AND USE TAX. (a) The district may
impose a sales and use tax if authorized by a majority of the voters
of the district voting at an election held for that purpose.
Revenue from the tax may be used for any district purpose for which
ad valorem tax revenue is used.
(b) The district may not impose a sales and use tax if as a
result of the imposition of the tax the combined rate of all sales
and use taxes imposed by the district and other political
subdivisions of this state having territory in the district would
exceed the amount allowable by law at any location in the district.
(c) If the voters of the district approve the adoption of
the tax at an election held on the same election date on which
another political subdivision adopts a sales and use tax or
approves an increase in the rate of its sales and use tax and as a
result the combined rate of all sales and use taxes imposed by the
district and other political subdivisions of this state having
territory in the district would exceed the amount allowable by law
at any location in the district, the election to adopt a sales and
use tax under this chapter has no effect.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, Chapter
321, Tax Code, applies to the imposition, computation,
administration, enforcement, and collection of the sales and use
tax imposed by this section.
Sec. 3891.156. 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 an 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. 3891.157. BONDS FOR ROAD PROJECTS. At the time of
issuance the total principal amount of bonds or other obligations
incurred to finance a road project may not exceed one-fourth of the
assessed value of real property in the district.
Sec. 3891.158. ELECTIONS REGARDING TAXES AND BONDS. (a)
The district may issue, without an election, bonds, notes, and
other obligations secured by revenue or contract payments from any
source other than ad valorem taxes.
(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.
SECTION 2. The Harris County Improvement District No. 17
initially includes all the territory contained in the following
area:
BEING 606.1394 acres of land out of a 644.0794 acre tract, that same
tract described in a deed filed for record July 06, 1933 in Volume
932, Page 98, Deed Records, Harris County, Texas, from John D. Reid,
et al, to Humble Oil and Refining Company, all of the Chauncy
Goodrich Survey Number 776, Patent 466, Volume 1, Abstract 305,
containing 640 acres more or less in Harris County, Texas; said
606.1394 acres more fully described as follows: BEGINNING at a 12
inch diameter wood fence post found in the West line of the Sam
Lewis Survey, Abstract 1704, the Southeast corner of the J. M.
Hooper Survey, Abstract 375 and the Northeast corner of the Chauncy
Goodrich Survey; THENCE South 00 19' 00" East, with the West line of
the Lewis Survey, a distance of 1005.00 feet to a point for the most
Easterly Northeast corner of that certain 9.26 acre tract, conveyed
to Humble Oil and Refining Company from Magnolia Petroleum Company,
by deed filed for record in Volume 1063, Page 557, Deed Records,
Harris County, Texas; THENCE North 29 36' 00" West, a distance of
206.4 feet to a point for corner in the North line of said 9.26 acres
;THENCE South 89 41' 00" West, a distance of 449.00 feet to a point
in the East line of that certain 28.68 acre tract conveyed to Humble
Oil and Refining Company from Socony Mobil Oil Company,
Incorporation, by deed filed for record in Volume 6028, Page 80 or
Harris County Clerk's File Number C139334, Harris County Deed
Records, said point being the Northwest corner of said 9.26 acre
tract; THENCE with the perimeter lines of said 28.68 acres the
following calls:
(1) North 00 19' 00" West, a distance of 586.4 feet to corner;
(2) South 89 36" 00" West, a distance of 597.9 feet to corner;
(3) South 00 31' 00" East, a distance of 434.1 feet to corner;
(4) South 88 43' 00" West, a distance of 418.6 feet to corner;
(5) North 01 00' 00" West, a distance of 211.2 feet to corner;
(6) South 89 00' 00" West, a distance of 394.5 feet to corner;
(7) South 00 54' 00" East, a distance of 500.00 feet to corner;
(8) South 89 13' 00" East, a distance of 508.4 feet to corner;
(9) South 00 54' 00" East, a distance of 411.6 feet to corner;
(10) North 89 38' 00" East, a distance of 289.7 feet to corner;
(11) South 00 36' 00" East, a distance of 180.8 feet to corner;
(12) North 89 38' 00" East, passing at 603.6 feet the Southeast
corner of said 28.68 acres, the Southwest corner of said 9.26 acres,
continuing with the South line of said 9.26 acres, in all, a
distance of 1153.6 feet to a point for the Southeast corner of said
9.26 acres in the West line of the Lewis Survey, the East line of the
Goodrich Survey and said 644.0794 acre tract: THENCE South 00 19'
00" East, with the West line of the Lewis Survey, a distance of
3706.59 feet to a 1 inch iron pipe found in the North line of the
August Senechal Survey, Abstract 722 and Lot 53 of Boudreaux
Estates, unrecorded subdivision; THENCE South 89 19' 23" West, with
the North line of the Senechal Survey, Lots 50, 51, 52 and 53 of said
Boudreaux Estates, a 16.349 acre tract conveyed to John E. Kolb,
Trustee of Harris County, recorded under Harris County Clerk's File
Number F196319, passing it's Northwest corner and the common North
corner of said Senechal Survey and I & G. N. R. R. Company Survey,
Abstract 952 at 2385 feet more or less, continuing in the North line
of said I & G. N. R. R. Company Survey and a 6.470 acre tract
recorded under Harris County Clerk's File Number R716867 and along
a wire fence, in all, a distance of 5279.26 feet to a 3/4 inch iron
pipe found at the base of a fence corner post, said pipe marking the
Southeast corner of the John M. Hooper Survey, Abstract 372, the
Southeast corner of the William Kobs, 323 acre tract, recorded in
Volume 16, Page 188, Deed Records, Harris County, Texas and the
Southwest corner of the Chauncy Goodrich Survey and the tract
herein described; THENCE North 00 13" 42" West, with the East line
of the Kobs Tract, the East line of the Hooper Survey, the West line
of the Goodrich Survey and along a wire fence, a distance of 5355.75
feet to a fence corner post found in the South line of the Hooper
Survey, Abstract 375, marking the Northwest corner of the tract
herein described from which a 5/8 inch iron rod found bears North
86 01'14" West, 4.65 feet; THENCE South 89 52' 17" East, with the
South line of the Hooper Survey, Abstract 375, the North line of the
Goodrich Survey, the tract herein described and along a wire fence,
a distance of 5271.05 feet to the PLACE OF BEGINNING containing
606.1394 acres. Together with the following: (1) a 60 foot wide road
easement extending from the Southwest right-of-way of State Highway
249 West to the common line between the Sam Lewis Survey, Abstract
1704, and the C. N. Pillot Survey, Abstract 632, recorded under
Harris County Clerk's File Number S283266, Official Public Records
of Real Property, Harris County, Texas; (2) a 100 foot wide road
easement extending from the common line between the Lewis Survey
and the Pillot Survey, West, to the East line of the Chauncy
Goodrich Survey, Abstract 305, recorded in Volume 934, Page 27,
Deed Records, Harris County, Texas; (3) a 100 foot wide road
easement, extending West from the Goodrich Survey East line and
being more fully described as follows: BEGINNING at a 1/2 inch iron
rod found for the Northwest corner of that certain 100 foot wide
road easement recorded in Volume 934, Page 27, Deed Records, Harris
County, Texas, in the West line of the Sam Lewis Survey, Abstract
1704, the East line of the Chauncy Goodrich Survey, Abstract 305;
THENCE South 00 19' 00" East, with the East line of the Goodrich
Survey, a distance of 100.00 feet; THENCE South 89 18' 37" West, a
distance of 1118.84 feet to a 1/2 inch iron rod found for corner;
THENCE North 00 54' 00" West, a distance of 100.00 feet to a 1/2
inch iron rod found in the South line of that certain 28.68 acre
tract recorded in Volume 6028, Page 80, Deed Records, Harris
County, Texas, the Northwest corner of the tract herein described;
THENCE North 89 18" 37" East, with the South line of said 28.68 acre
tract and a 9.26 acre Tomball Gas Plant Tract recorded in Volume
1063, Page 557, Deed Records, Harris County, Texas, a distance of
1119.86 feet to the PLACE OF BEGINNING, containing 2.56 acres 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,
lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
within the required time.
(d) The general law relating to consent by political
subdivisions to the creation of districts with conservation,
reclamation, and road powers and the inclusion of land in those
districts has been complied with.
(e) 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 have been
fulfilled and accomplished.
SECTION 4. 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, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4829 was passed by the House on May
15, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4829 was passed by the Senate on May
27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor