82R13979 TRH-F
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1611
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the funding of projects in the boundaries of an
intermunicipal commuter rail district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 173.002, Transportation Code, as
effective April 1, 2011, is amended by adding Subdivision (2-a) to
read as follows:
(2-a) "Commuter rail service" means the transportation
of passengers and baggage by rail between locations in a district.
SECTION 2. Sections 173.256(b), (d), and (e),
Transportation Code, as effective April 1, 2011, are amended to
read as follows:
(b) A district may enter into an interlocal contract with
one or more [a] local government members [member] for the financing
of transportation infrastructure that is constructed or that is to
be constructed in the territory of the local governments
[government] by the district.
(d) The agreement may establish one or more transportation
infrastructure zones, which may consist of a contiguous or
noncontiguous geographic area in the territory of one or more local
governments. The district and the local government may agree that,
at one or more specified times, the local government will pay to the
district an amount that is calculated on the basis of increased ad
valorem tax collections in a zone that are attributable to
increased values of property located in the zone resulting from an
infrastructure project. The amount may not equal or exceed an
amount that is equal to [30 percent of] the increase in ad valorem
tax collections in the zone for the specified period.
(e) Money received by the district under this section may be
used:
(1) to provide a local match for the acquisition of
right-of-way in the territory of the local government; [or]
(2) for design, construction, operation, or
maintenance of transportation facilities in the territory of the
local government; or
(3) to acquire property rights for underdeveloped
lands in the transportation infrastructure zone to be preserved for
the benefit of the public.
SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Chapter 173, Transportation Code,
as effective April 1, 2011, is amended by adding Sections 173.305
and 173.306 to read as follows:
Sec. 173.305. TAX INCREMENT FUND FOR TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE ZONE. The district shall establish a tax increment
fund. In addition to the amount of tax increment deposited to the
tax increment fund, all revenue from the sale of tax increment bonds
or notes under Section 173.306, revenue from the sale of any
property acquired as part of a plan adopted to use tax increment
financing, and other revenue to be used in implementing the plan
shall be deposited in the tax increment fund for the zone.
Sec. 173.306. TAX INCREMENT BONDS AND NOTES ISSUED BY LOCAL
GOVERNMENT MEMBER. (a) A local government member of a district
creating a transportation infrastructure zone may issue tax
increment bonds or notes, including refunding bonds, secured by
revenue in the local government's tax increment fund. Proceeds of
bonds issued under this section may be used to:
(1) pay project costs for the zone on behalf of which
the bonds or notes were issued; or
(2) satisfy claims of holders of the bonds or notes.
(b) Tax increment bonds and notes are payable, as to both
principal and interest, solely from the tax increment fund
established for the transportation infrastructure zone. The local
government may pledge irrevocably all or part of the fund for
payment of tax increment bonds or notes. The part of the fund
pledged in payment may be used only for the payment of the bonds or
notes or interest on the bonds or notes until the bonds or notes
have been fully paid. A holder of the bonds or notes or of coupons
issued on the bonds has a lien against the fund for payment of the
bonds or notes and interest on the bonds or notes and may protect or
enforce the lien at law or in equity.
(c) A tax increment bond or note is not a general obligation
of the local government issuing the bond or note. A tax increment
bond or note does not give rise to a charge against the general
credit or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable
except as provided by this section.
(d) A local government's obligation to deposit sales and use
taxes into the tax increment fund is not a general obligation of the
local government. An obligation to make payments from sales and
use taxes does not give rise to a charge against the general credit
or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable except
as provided by this section. A tax increment bond or note issued
under this section that pledges payments must state the
restrictions of this section on its face.
(e) A tax increment bond or note may not be included in any
computation of the debt of the issuing local government.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.