By: Nelson S.B. No. 1422
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland
Security; April 26, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
April 26, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1422 By: Harris
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to coordinated county transportation authorities;
creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Section 460.106, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subchapter I, a [A] service plan
may be implemented in an area of the county participating in the
authority only if a majority of votes received favor the
authorization of a tax levy by the authority.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 460, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 460.1091 and 460.1092 to read as
follows:
Sec. 460.1091. ENFORCEMENT OF FARES AND OTHER CHARGES;
PENALTIES. (a) A board of directors by resolution may prohibit
the use of the public transportation system by a person without
payment of the appropriate fare for the use of the system and may
establish reasonable and appropriate methods to ensure that persons
using the public transportation system pay the appropriate fare for
that use.
(b) A board of directors by resolution may provide that a
fare for or charge for the use of the public transportation system
that is not paid incurs a reasonable administrative fee.
(c) An authority shall post signs designating each area in
which a person is prohibited from using the transportation system
without payment of the appropriate fare.
(d) A person commits an offense if the person or another for
whom the person is criminally responsible under Section 7.02, Penal
Code, uses the public transportation system without paying the
appropriate fare.
(e) If the person fails to provide proof that the person
paid the appropriate fare for the use of the public transportation
system and fails to pay any administrative fee assessed under
Subsection (b) on or before the 30th day after the date the
authority notifies the person that the person is required to pay the
amount of the fare and the administrative fee, it is prima facie
evidence that the person used the public transportation system
without paying the appropriate fare.
(f) The notice required by Subsection (e) may be included in
a citation issued to the person by a peace officer under Article
14.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, or by a fare enforcement officer
under Section 460.1092, in connection with an offense relating to
the nonpayment of the appropriate fare for the use of the public
transportation system.
(g) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (d)
that on or before the 30th day after the date the authority notified
the person that the person is required to pay the amount of the fare
and any administrative fee assessed under Subsection (b), the
person:
(1) provided proof that the person paid the
appropriate fare at the time the person used the transportation
system or at a later date or that the person was exempt from
payment; and
(2) paid the administrative fee assessed under
Subsection (b), if applicable.
(h) An offense under Subsection (d) is:
(1) a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed
$100; and
(2) not a crime of moral turpitude.
(i) A justice court located in the service area of the
authority may enter into an agreement with the authority to try all
criminal cases that arise under Subsection (d). Notwithstanding
Articles 4.12 and 4.14, Code of Criminal Procedure, if a justice
court enters into an agreement with the authority:
(1) a criminal case that arises under Subsection (d)
must be tried in the justice court; and
(2) the justice court has exclusive jurisdiction in
all criminal cases that arise under Subsection (d).
Sec. 460.1092. FARE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. (a) An
authority may employ persons to serve as fare enforcement officers
to enforce the payment of fares for use of the public transportation
system by:
(1) requesting and inspecting evidence showing
payment of the appropriate fare from a person using the public
transportation system; and
(2) issuing a citation to a person described by
Section 460.1091(d).
(b) Before commencing duties as a fare enforcement officer,
a person must complete at least eight hours of training approved by
the authority that is appropriate to the duties required of a fare
enforcement officer.
(c) While performing duties, a fare enforcement officer
shall:
(1) wear a distinctive uniform, badge, or insignia
that identifies the person as a fare enforcement officer; and
(2) work under the direction of the authority's chief
administrative officer.
(d) A fare enforcement officer may:
(1) request evidence showing payment of the
appropriate fare from passengers of the public transportation
system or evidence showing exemption from the payment requirement;
(2) request personal identification or other
documentation designated by the authority from a passenger who does
not produce evidence showing payment of the appropriate fare on
request by the officer;
(3) instruct a passenger to immediately leave the
public transportation system if the passenger does not possess
evidence showing payment or exemption from payment of the
appropriate fare; or
(4) file a complaint in the appropriate court that
charges the person with an offense under Section 460.1091(d).
(e) A fare enforcement officer may not carry a weapon while
performing duties under this section unless the officer is a
certified peace officer.
(f) A fare enforcement officer who is not a certified peace
officer is not a peace officer and has no authority to enforce a
criminal law, except as provided by this section.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 460.406, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The board of directors may authorize the negotiation of
a contract without competitive sealed bids or proposals if:
(1) the aggregate amount involved in the contract is
$50,000 [$25,000] or less;
(2) the contract is for construction for which not
more than one bid or proposal is received;
(3) the contract is for services or property for which
there is only one source or for which it is otherwise impracticable
to obtain competition;
(4) the contract is to respond to an emergency for
which the public exigency does not permit the delay incident to the
competitive process;
(5) the contract is for personal or professional
services or services for which competitive bidding is precluded by
law;
(6) the contract, without regard to form and which may
include bonds, notes, loan agreements, or other obligations, is for
the purpose of borrowing money or is a part of a transaction
relating to the borrowing of money, including:
(A) a credit support agreement, such as a line or
letter of credit or other debt guaranty;
(B) a bond, note, debt sale or purchase, trustee,
paying agent, remarketing agent, indexing agent, or similar
agreement;
(C) an agreement with a securities dealer,
broker, or underwriter; and
(D) any other contract or agreement considered by
the board of directors to be appropriate or necessary in support of
the authority's financing activities;
(7) the contract is for work that is performed and paid
for by the day as the work progresses;
(8) the contract is for the purchase of land or a
right-of-way;
(9) the contract is for the purchase of personal
property sold:
(A) at an auction by a state licensed auctioneer;
(B) at a going out of business sale held in
compliance with Subchapter F, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code;
or
(C) by a political subdivision of this state, a
state agency, or an entity of the federal government;
(10) the contract is for services performed by blind
or severely disabled persons;
(11) the contract is for the purchase of electricity;
or
(12) the contract is one awarded for alternate project
delivery under Sections 271.117-271.119, Local Government Code.
SECTION 4. Chapter 460, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. PARTICIPATION IN AUTHORITY THROUGH TAX INCREMENT
PAYMENTS
Sec. 460.601. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "tax
increment" means the amount of revenue generated from ad valorem
taxes, sales and use taxes imposed by a municipality under Section
321.101(a), Tax Code, or both ad valorem and sales and use taxes
that are attributable to a public transportation financing area
designated under this subchapter that exceeds the amount
attributable to the area for the year in which the area was
designated.
Sec. 460.602. PARTICIPATION IN SERVICE PLAN; AGREEMENT WITH
MUNICIPALITY. A service plan may be implemented in an area of a
municipality that has not authorized the authority's sales and use
tax levy if:
(1) the authorization by the municipality of the
authority's sales and use tax levy, when combined with the rates of
all sales and use taxes imposed by other political subdivisions in
the municipality, would exceed two percent in any location in the
municipality; and
(2) the municipality has entered into an agreement
with the authority to provide public transportation services in a
public transportation financing area designated under this
subchapter in exchange for all or a portion of the tax increment in
the area.
Sec. 460.603. DESIGNATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
FINANCING AREA. The governing body of a municipality by ordinance
may designate a contiguous geographic area in the jurisdiction of
the municipality to be a public transportation financing area. The
geographic area:
(1) must have one or more transit facilities that
include a structure provided for or on behalf of the authority for
embarkation on and disembarkation from public transportation
services provided by the authority, which may include a transit
stop, transit shelter, transit garage, or transit terminal;
(2) may include any territory located in the
municipality's jurisdiction; and
(3) must include an area one-half mile on either side
of the proposed service route served by a structure under
Subdivision (1), to the extent that that area is included in the
municipality's boundaries.
Sec. 460.604. HEARING. (a) Before adopting an ordinance
designating a public transportation financing area, the
municipality must hold a public hearing on the creation of the
public transportation financing area and its benefits to the
municipality and to property in the proposed public transportation
financing area. At the hearing, an interested person may speak for
or against the designation of the public transportation financing
area.
(b) Not later than the 30th day before the date of the
hearing, notice of the hearing must be published in a newspaper
having general circulation in the municipality.
Sec. 460.605. DESIGNATION OF TAX INCREMENT. (a) In the
ordinance designating an area as a public transportation financing
area, the municipality must:
(1) designate a portion or amount of the tax increment
to be paid to the authority and deposited in the tax increment
account under Section 460.606; and
(2) state whether the tax increment will be generated
from ad valorem tax revenue, sales and use tax revenue, or both.
(b) The amount designated for payment and deposit may not
exceed the equivalent of the amount that would be collected by the
authority if the municipality had authorized the authority's sales
and use tax levy.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), if the amount
designated under Subsection (b) is not sufficient to compensate the
authority for the maintenance and operating expenses of providing
service to the public transportation financing area and for any
capital cost incurred for the benefit of the public transportation
financing area, the authority may request and the municipality
shall designate that the entire portion or amount of the tax
increment be deposited in the tax increment account, regardless of
whether that amount exceeds the authority's sales and use tax levy
equivalent, until any amounts owed for all previous years'
maintenance and operating expenses and for any capital cost
incurred for the benefit of the public transportation financing
area have been paid.
Sec. 460.606. TAX INCREMENT ACCOUNT; USE OF TAXES. (a) An
authority that enters into an agreement with a municipality to
provide services to a public transportation financing area must
establish a tax increment account and maintain the account as a
fiduciary of the municipality.
(b) The taxes to be deposited into the tax increment account
may be disbursed from the account only to:
(1) compensate the authority for maintenance and
operating expenses of providing services to the public
transportation financing area, including compensation for
expansion, improvement, rehabilitation, or enhancement amounts
owed for previous years' maintenance and operating expenses for the
public transportation financing area;
(2) compensate the authority for any capital cost
incurred for the benefit of the public transportation financing
area;
(3) notwithstanding Section 321.506, Tax Code,
satisfy claims of holders of tax increment bonds, notes, or other
obligations issued or incurred for projects or services that
directly or indirectly benefit the public transportation financing
area through the expansion, improvement, rehabilitation, or
enhancement of transportation service by the authority under the
service plan; and
(4) pay any capital recovery fee required by the
authority.
Sec. 460.607. AGREEMENT WITH COMPTROLLER. Before pledging
or otherwise committing money in the tax increment account under
Section 460.606, the governing body of a municipality must enter
into an agreement under Subchapter E, Chapter 271, Local Government
Code, to authorize and direct the comptroller to:
(1) withhold from any payment to which the
municipality may be entitled the amount of the payment due to the
tax increment account;
(2) deposit that amount into the tax increment
account; and
(3) continue withholding and making additional
payments into the tax increment account until an amount sufficient
to satisfy the amount due to the account has been met.
Sec. 460.608. ACCOUNTING OF MAINTENANCE AND OPERATING
EXPENSES. An authority shall, under an agreement under Section
460.602:
(1) provide to the municipality an annual accounting,
with supporting documentation, of the annual maintenance and
operating expenses of providing service to the public
transportation financing area; and
(2) notify the municipality when amounts owed for all
previous years' maintenance and operating expenses and for any
capital cost incurred for the benefit of the public transportation
financing area have been fully paid.
Sec. 460.609. CAPITAL RECOVERY FEE. An agreement to
provide services to a public transportation financing area may
require the municipality to pay the authority a capital recovery
fee. An authority that requires a capital recovery fee shall:
(1) apply toward the amount owed for the capital
recovery fee any amount in the tax increment account that exceeds
the amount necessary to compensate the authority for:
(A) the annual maintenance and operating
expenses of providing service to the public transportation
financing area, including amounts for expansion, improvement,
rehabilitation, or enhancement that may be owed for previous years'
maintenance and operating expenses; and
(B) any capital cost incurred for the benefit of
the public transportation financing area; and
(2) notify the municipality when the amount owed for
the capital recovery fee has been fully paid.
Sec. 460.610. USE OF SURPLUS TAX INCREMENT PAYMENT AMOUNTS.
After any applicable capital recovery fee has been paid, the
authority and the municipality shall negotiate to determine use of
the amount of tax increment payments that exceeds the amount
necessary to compensate the authority for the annual maintenance
and operating expenses of providing service to the public
transportation financing area. The excess amounts may be used to
develop infrastructure enhancement, replacement, or improvement
projects in the public transportation financing area that benefit
both the municipality and the authority.
Sec. 460.611. TERMINATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
FINANCING AREA. If the tax increment is pledged to the payment of
bonds and interest on the bonds or to the payment of any other
obligations, the public transportation financing area or an
agreement for services under Section 460.602 may not be terminated
by agreement of the parties unless the municipality that created
the public transportation financing area deposits or causes to be
deposited with a trustee or other escrow agent authorized by law
funds in an amount that, together with the interest on the
investment of the funds in direct obligations of the United States,
will be sufficient to pay:
(1) the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on
all bonds issued on behalf of the public transportation financing
area at maturity or at the date fixed for redemption of the bonds;
and
(2) any other amounts that may become due, including
compensation due or to become due to the trustee or escrow agent, as
well as to pay the principal of and interest on any other
obligations incurred on behalf of the public transportation
financing area.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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