By: Watson S.B. No. 1574
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2011; March 23, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
May 11, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1574 By: Watson
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of money in a tax increment fund to pay costs
related to public improvements used for social services programs
that promote the development or redevelopment of a reinvestment
zone.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 311.008, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A municipality or county may exercise any power
necessary and convenient to carry out this chapter, including the
power to:
(1) cause project plans to be prepared, approve and
implement the plans, and otherwise achieve the purposes of the
plan;
(2) acquire real property by purchase, condemnation,
or other means to implement project plans and sell that property on
the terms and conditions and in the manner it considers advisable;
(3) enter into agreements, including agreements with
bondholders, determined by the governing body of the municipality
or county to be necessary or convenient to implement project plans
and achieve their purposes, which agreements may include
conditions, restrictions, or covenants that run with the land or
that by other means regulate or restrict the use of land; and
(4) consistent with the project plan for the zone:
(A) acquire blighted, deteriorated,
deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately developed real
property or other property in a blighted area or in a federally
assisted new community in the zone for the preservation or
restoration of historic sites, beautification or conservation, the
provision of public works or public facilities, or other public
purposes;
(B) acquire, construct, reconstruct, or install
public works, facilities, or sites or other public improvements,
including utilities, streets, street lights, water and sewer
facilities, pedestrian malls and walkways, parks, flood and
drainage facilities, or parking facilities, but not including
educational facilities; [or]
(C) in a reinvestment zone created on or before
September 1, 1999, acquire, construct, or reconstruct educational
facilities in the municipality; or
(D) in a reinvestment zone created in a county
that has a population of less than 1.5 million but in which a
municipality is primarily located that has a population of at least
775,000, acquire, construct, reconstruct, renovate, rehabilitate,
install, or equip public improvements used or to be used for social
services programs in the zone, including improvements determined by
the municipality or county to be beneficial to:
(i) providing basic necessities such as
food, clothing, shelter, health care, and mental health care;
(ii) helping provide individuals and
families a transition out of poverty by ensuring the availability
of educational, employment, and other services that promote
self-reliance;
(iii) preventing social problems through
education, preventive physical and mental health programs, crime
prevention programs, and other preventive programs;
(iv) providing family and societal support
services, including education, child care, counseling and
assistance for the aging, youth, the homeless, and the unemployed,
rehabilitation services, and other similar support services; and
(v) encouraging personal development and
community enrichment through cultural and educational programs.
SECTION 2. Section 311.010, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
(b-1) An agreement under Subsection (b) relating to the
project plan or the reinvestment zone financing plan for a
reinvestment zone described by Section 311.008(b)(4)(D) may:
(1) during the term of the agreement dedicate, pledge,
or otherwise provide for the use of revenue in the tax increment
fund to pay project costs relating to the cost of public
improvements described by Section 311.008(b)(4)(D); or
(2) dedicate revenue from the tax increment fund to
pay the costs of operating or administering programs described by
Section 311.008(b)(4)(D).
(b-2) A municipality or county may not use revenue from a
tax increment fund dedicated, pledged, or otherwise provided for a
purpose described by Subsection (b-1) to replace revenue the
municipality or county would otherwise have spent from other
sources for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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.
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