By: Anchia H.B. No. 3452
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to improvement districts in municipalities and counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 372.003(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 372.003. AUTHORIZED IMPROVEMENTS. (a) If the
governing body of a municipality or county finds that it promotes
the interests of the municipality or county, the governing body may
undertake an improvement project that confers a special benefit on
properties that have a common land use or other common
characteristic or on a definable part of the municipality or county
or the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. A project may
be undertaken in the municipality or county or the municipality's
extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(b) A public improvement project may include:
(1) landscaping;
(2) erection of fountains, distinctive lighting, and
signs;
(3) acquiring, constructing, improving, widening,
narrowing, closing, or rerouting of sidewalks or of streets, any
other roadways, or their rights-of-way;
(4) construction or improvement of pedestrian malls;
(5) acquisition and installation of pieces of art;
(6) acquisition, construction, or improvement of
libraries;
(7) acquisition, construction, or improvement of
off-street parking facilities;
(8) acquisition, construction, improvement, or
rerouting of mass transportation facilities;
(9) acquisition, construction, or improvement of
water, wastewater, or drainage facilities or improvements;
(10) the establishment or improvement of parks;
(11) projects similar to those listed in Subdivisions
(1)-(10);
(12) acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of real
property in connection with an authorized improvement;
(13) special supplemental services for improvement
and promotion of the district, including services relating to
advertising, promotion, health and sanitation, water and
wastewater, public safety, security, business recruitment,
development, recreation, and cultural enhancement;
(14) payment of expenses incurred in the
establishment, administration, and operation of the district
including the costs of operating and maintaining mass
transportation facilities financed with public improvement
district assessments; and
(15) the development, rehabilitation, or expansion of
affordable housing.
(c) A public improvement project may be limited to the
provision of the services described by Subsection (b(13).
SECTION 2. Section 372, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding a new Subsection 372.0031 to read as follows:
Sec. 372.0031 VALUE CAPTURE AND COST. If the public
improvement project is to be financed through a deferred payment,
the governing body shall prepare an estimate of the appraised value
of the properties in the District and the cost of the improvement
before the improvement is constructed and before the hearing
provided by Section 372.009 is held.
SECTION 3. Sec. 372.005(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows: (a) A petition for the establishment
of a public improvement district must state:
(7) that the persons signing the petition request or
concur with the establishment of the district; and
(8) that an advisory body may be established to
develop and recommend an improvement plan to the governing body of
the municipality or county.; and
(9) the estimated property value appreciation and the
proposed schedule for collecting the assessment, if a deferred
payment and collection method is to be used to finance the
improvements.
SECTION 4. Sec. 372.009(b) and (c), Local Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) The hearing may be adjourned from time to time until the
governing body makes findings by resolution as to:
(5) the method of assessment; and
(6) the apportionment of costs between the district
and the municipality or county as a whole.; and
(7) the estimated property value appreciation and the
proposed schedule for collecting the assessment, if a deferred
payment and collection method is to be used to finance the
improvements.
(c) Notice of the hearing must be given in a newspaper of
general circulation in the municipality or county. If any part of
the improvement district is to be located in the municipality's
extraterritorial jurisdiction or if any part of the improvements is
to be undertaken in the municipality's extraterritorial
jurisdiction, the notice must also be given in a newspaper of
general circulation in the part of the extraterritorial
jurisdiction in which the district is to be located or in which the
improvements are to be undertaken. The final publication of notice
must be made before the 15th day before the date of the hearing. The
notice must state:
(5) the proposed method of assessment; and
(6) the proposed apportionment of cost between the
improvement district and the municipality or county as a whole.;
and
(7) the estimated property value appreciation and the
proposed schedule for collecting the assessment, if a deferred
payment and collection method is to be used to finance the
improvements.
SECTION 5. Sec. 372.013, Local Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), The the plan must
cover a period of at least five years and must also define the
annual indebtedness and the projected costs for improvements. The
plan shall be reviewed and updated annually for the purpose of
determining the annual budget for improvements.
(c) If the public improvement project is to be financed
through a deferred payment and collection method, the plan shall
describe the total projected costs, the total indebtedness of the
improvement project, the estimated property value appreciation
attributable to improvements in the district and an estimated
collection schedule for the deferred assessments.
SECTION 6. Sec. 372.017 and 372.018, Local Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 372.017. LEVY OF ASSESSMENT. (a) At or on the
adjournment of the hearing referred to by Section 372.016 on
proposed assessments, the governing body of the municipality or
county must hear and pass on any objection to a proposed assessment.
The governing body may amend a proposed assessment on any parcel.
(b) After all objections have been heard and the governing
body has passed on the objections, the governing body by ordinance
or order shall levy the assessment as a special assessment on the
property. The governing body by ordinance or order shall specify
the method of payment of the assessment. The governing body may
provide that the payment of assessments be deferred to a specific
date or event in the future, or that payment be made paid in
periodic installments, at an interest rate and for a period
approved by the governing body. The provision that assessments be
paid in periodic installments may, but is not required to, result in
level annual installment payments. The installments must be in
amounts necessary to meet annual costs for improvements and must
continue for:
(1) the period necessary to retire the indebtedness on
the improvements; or
(2) the period approved by the governing body for the
payment of the installments.
Sec. 372.018. INTEREST ON ASSESSMENT; LIEN. (a) An
assessment bears interest Interest shall accrue on the assessment
or any deferred assessment at the rate specified by the governing
body of the municipality or county beginning at the time or times or
on the occurrence of one or more events specified by the governing
body. If general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, time warrants,
or temporary notes are issued to finance the improvement for which
the assessment is assessed, the interest rate for that assessment
may not exceed a rate that is one-half of one percent higher than
the actual interest rate paid on the debt. Interest on the
assessment between the effective date of the ordinance or order
levying the assessment and the date the first installment is
payable shall be added to the first installment. The interest on
any delinquent installment shall be added to each subsequent
installment until all delinquent installments are paid.
(b) An assessment, deferred assessment, or reassessment,
with interest, the expense of collection, and reasonable attorney's
fees, if incurred, is:
(1) a first and prior lien against the property
assessed;
(2) superior to all other liens and claims except
liens or claims for state, county, school district, or municipality
ad valorem taxes; and
(3) a personal liability of and charge against the
owners of the property regardless of whether the owners are named.
(c) The lien is effective from the date of the ordinance or
order levying the assessment or deferred assessment until the
assessment is paid.
(d) The lien runs with the land and that portion of an
assessment payment that has not yet come due is not eliminated by
foreclosure of an ad valorem tax lien.
(e) The assessment lien may be enforced by the governing
body in the same manner that an ad valorem tax lien against real
property may be enforced by the governing body. Foreclosure of
accrued installments does not eliminate the outstanding principal
balance of the assessment. Any purchaser of the property in
foreclosure takes the property subject to the assessment lien and
any associated obligations.
(f) Delinquent installments of the assessment or deferred
assessment shall incur interest, penalties, and attorney's fees in
the same manner as delinquent ad valorem taxes. The owner of
assessed property may pay at any time all or any part of the
assessment, with interest that has accrued on the assessment, on
any lot or parcel.
(g) The assessment lien may be enforced by sale of the
property in the manner provided by law for the collection of ad
valorem taxes by the municipality.
SECTION 7. SUBCHAPTER B. IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS IN
HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITIES, Sec. 372.041(a), Local Government Code,
is amended by adding a new subsection (4) to read as follows:
Sec. 372.041. AUTHORITY OF HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITY. (a) A
home-rule municipality may create improvement districts for the
purposes of:
(1) levying, straightening, widening, enclosing, or
otherwise improving a river, creek, bayou, stream, other body of
water, street, or alley;
(2) draining, grading, filling, and otherwise
protecting and improving the territory within the municipality's
limits; and
(3) issuing bonds to finance improvements listed in
this subsection.; and
(4) financing any public improvement project
authorized by this chapter.
SECTION 8. 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, 2011.