By: Jackson S.B. No. 1104
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation, powers, and duties of ship channel
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 68.051, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), after [After] the
district is created, the commissioners court that created the
district by order may provide for this chapter to apply to any other
type of facility that the district by petition requests the court to
add.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 68.152, Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court of the county shall appoint as
[two] directors for each security zone the one or two nominees as
appropriate for the staggering of terms who received the highest
number of votes in a [from a list of two persons nominated by a
majority] vote by [of] the facility owners in each security zone.
Each [nominated] person nominated as a director must be employed by
a facility owner at a facility in the zone.
(b) After reviewing the list of persons nominated to be
directors, the commissioners court shall approve or disapprove the
nominations for each security zone.
SECTION 3. Section 68.156, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) When a director's term expires, the successor director
is appointed in the manner provided by this subchapter for that
director position.
SECTION 4. Section 68.161, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 68.161. MEETINGS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (c), the [The] board shall determine the frequency of
its meetings and may hold meetings at any time the board determines.
(b) The board shall conduct its meetings in this state [the
district].
(c) The board shall meet at least once per year in addition
to conducting hearings as necessary under Section 68.302.
(d) The board may combine its annual meeting, or any other
meeting, with a hearing held under Section 68.302.
(e) At each annual meeting and at each hearing required by
Section 68.302, the board shall make available to the public the
following, except to the extent the board determines that
disclosure may jeopardize the safety and security of a facility in
the district:
(1) an accounting of all federal and district money
received and spent by the district during the preceding year;
(2) a summary of all security projects implemented by
the district, including a report detailing the effectiveness of the
security projects;
(3) a description of all pending or planned district
security projects; and
(4) an estimate of the money that will be received
through any proposed assessments and a description of how the money
will be spent.
SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 68, Water Code, is amended
by adding Sections 68.255 and 68.256 to read as follows:
Sec. 68.255. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT BY COMMISSIONERS
COURT. The commissioners court shall provide a quarterly financial
report to the board. The report must comply with generally accepted
accounting principles and list all federal money received by the
county and all outstanding obligations by the county to fund the
district and its functions.
Sec. 68.256. QUARTERLY GENERAL ACCOUNTING BY BOARD. The
board shall prepare a quarterly accounting of the district's
general operating and maintenance costs. The accounting must
comply with generally accepted accounting principles.
SECTION 6. Section 68.301, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 68.301. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE ASSESSMENT; HEARING
REQUIRED. (a) The board may impose one or more assessments [an
assessment] against one or more facilities for any district
purpose, including for general district purposes or for a specific
security project or security service.
(b) The board may not impose the assessment until the board
holds the hearing required by this subchapter.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 68.303, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 30th day before the date of the
hearing, the district shall provide notice of the hearing by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to each facility owner:
(1) at the current address of each facility according
to the appraisal record maintained by the appraisal district for
that facility under Section 25.02, Tax Code; or
(2) if the appraisal records do not accurately reflect
that address or do not show the physical location of a particular
facility, at the facility's physical location as reflected by any
other information available.
SECTION 8. Subsection (c), Section 68.307, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) After all objections have been heard and action has been
taken with regard to those objections, the board by resolution
shall impose the assessments on the facilities and shall specify
the method of payment of the assessments. A facility shall pay
assessments in one lump sum on the date designated by the board,
unless the board allows the [and may provide that those]
assessments to be paid in periodic installments under Subsection
(d).
SECTION 9. Section 68.313, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(b) An assessment, a reassessment, or an assessment
resulting from an addition to or correction of the assessment roll
by the district, penalties and interest on an assessment or
reassessment, an expense of collection, and reasonable attorney's
fees incurred by the district:
(1) are a first and prior lien against the facility
[property] assessed;
(2) are superior to any other lien or claim other than
a lien or claim for county, school district, or municipal ad valorem
taxes; and
(3) are the personal liability of and a charge against
the owners of the facility [property] even if the owners are not
named in the assessment proceedings.
(d) This section applies to a property interest that is a
facility listed in Section 68.051(b), including:
(1) an improvement or fixture; and
(2) an owned or leased property interest.
SECTION 10. Chapter 68, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. ADDITION AND EXCLUSION OF TERRITORY AND FACILITIES
Sec. 68.401. PETITION BY BOARD TO ADD TERRITORY AND
FACILITIES. (a) A board may petition the commissioners court of
the county that created the district to add to the district
territory that contains a facility in the county if the board finds
that a security project or security service in the district
benefits or will benefit the facility.
(b) The petition must describe:
(1) the territory to be added;
(2) the facilities in the territory to be added; and
(3) the total territory of the district after the
addition of the territory.
(c) The petition must recommend a security zone in which the
facility to be added should be included. The board may recommend
modifying one or more security zones as necessary to add the
facility. The board of a district that has four security zones may
also recommend adding a fifth security zone as necessary to add the
new facility. The recommendation must also note whether the
security zone of any facilities will change if the petition is
granted.
(d) If any part of an assessment imposed by the board is
allocable to the facility to be added, the petition must describe
the portion, amount, and payment terms of the portion of the
assessment that is allocable to the facility.
Sec. 68.402. HEARING AND ACTION ON BOARD'S PETITION TO ADD
TERRITORY AND FACILITIES. The commissioners court:
(1) shall publish notice and conduct a hearing on the
petition under Sections 68.104 and 68.105; and
(2) may grant the petition if the commissioners court
determines that a security project or security service in the
district benefits or will benefit the facility.
Sec. 68.403. PETITION BY FACILITY OWNER TO ADD TERRITORY
AND FACILITIES. (a) The owner of a facility in the county may
petition the board of a district requesting that the board petition
the commissioners court to add to the district territory that
contains the facility in the county. The petition must describe the
territory and facility to be added and be signed by each owner of
the facility.
(b) If the board grants the petition, the board shall
petition the commissioners court to add the territory and make
recommendations to the court under Subsection (d).
(c) The petition the board submits to the commissioners
court must describe:
(1) the territory to be added;
(2) the facilities in the territory to be added; and
(3) the total territory of the district after the
addition of the territory.
(d) The board shall recommend the security zone in which the
facility to be added should be included. The board may recommend
modifying one or more security zones as necessary to add the
facility. The board of a district that has four security zones may
also recommend adding a fifth security zone as necessary to add the
new facility. The recommendation must also note whether the
security zone of any facilities will change if the petition is
granted.
(e) If any part of an assessment imposed by the board is
allocable to the facility to be added, the board must include with
the petition it forwards to the commissioners court a description
of the portion, amount, and payment terms of the portion of the
assessment that is allocable to the facility.
Sec. 68.404. ACTION ON FACILITY OWNER'S PETITION TO ADD
TERRITORY AND FACILITIES. The commissioners court may grant the
petition.
Sec. 68.405. MODIFICATION OF ORDER. A commissioners court
that adds territory under this subchapter shall modify the order
that created the district under Section 68.107 to:
(1) modify the territory;
(2) add the facility;
(3) describe any security zones created or modified
under this section, including the location of any facilities whose
zone has changed;
(4) identify the security zone in which the added
facility is located; and
(5) describe the portion, amount, and terms of payment
of an assessment imposed by the board that is allocable to the
facility.
Sec. 68.406. PETITION BY BOARD TO EXCLUDE TERRITORY AND
FACILITIES. (a) On the request of a facility in the district or on
its own motion, a board may petition the commissioners court of the
county that created the district to exclude territory and included
facilities from the district. The petition must include:
(1) a finding by the board that excluding the
territory is practical, just, and reasonable;
(2) a description of the territory to be excluded; and
(3) a description of the total territory of the
district after the exclusion of the territory.
(b) The petition may include recommendations to:
(1) modify one or more security zones or eliminate a
security zone, provided that the district may not have fewer than
four security zones; and
(2) modify assessments that the facility has not paid.
Sec. 68.407. HEARING AND ACTION ON BOARD'S PETITION TO
EXCLUDE TERRITORY AND FACILITIES. (a) The commissioners court:
(1) shall publish notice and conduct a hearing on the
petition under Sections 68.104 and 68.105; and
(2) may grant the petition if the commissioners court
finds that exclusion of the territory that contains the facility is
practical, just, and reasonable.
(b) A commissioners court that excludes territory under
this section shall modify the order that created the district under
Section 68.107 to:
(1) modify the territory;
(2) exclude the facility;
(3) describe any security zones modified or eliminated
under this section, including the location of any facilities whose
zone has changed; and
(4) modify unpaid assessments, as applicable.
SECTION 11. Section 68.152, Water Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a director nominated on or after the effective
date of this Act. A director nominated before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect when the nomination was
made, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. 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.