Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1611 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1611
2	2	(McClendon)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the funding of projects in the boundaries of certain
8	8	intermunicipal commuter rail districts.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 173.002, Transportation Code, is amended
11	11	by adding Subdivision (2-a) to read as follows:
12	12	(2-a) "Commuter rail service" means the
13	13	transportation of passengers and baggage by rail between locations
14	14	in a district.
15	15	SECTION 2. Section 173.256, Transportation Code, is amended
16	16	by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
17	17	read as follows:
18	18	(b) A district may enter into an interlocal contract with
19	19	one or more [a] local government members [member] for the financing
20	20	of transportation infrastructure that is constructed or that is to
21	21	be constructed in the territory of the local governments
22	22	[government] by the district.
23	23	(d) The agreement may establish one or more transportation
24	24	infrastructure zones. The district and the local government may
25	25	agree that, at one or more specified times, the local government
26	26	will pay to the district an amount that is calculated on the basis
27	27	of increased ad valorem tax collections in a zone that are
28	28	attributable to increased values of property located in the zone
29	29	resulting from an infrastructure project. Except as provided by
30	30	Subsection (d-1), the [The] amount may not exceed an amount that is
31	31	equal to 30 percent of the increase in ad valorem tax collections
32	32	for the specified period.
33	33	(d-1) A transportation infrastructure zone of a district
34	34	established before January 1, 2005, may consist of a contiguous or
35	35	noncontiguous geographic area in the territory of one or more local
36	36	governments and must include a commuter rail facility or the site of
37	37	a proposed commuter rail facility. The amount paid by a local
38	38	government under Subsection (d) to a district established before
39	39	January 1, 2005, may not exceed an amount that is equal to the
40	40	increase in ad valorem tax collections in the zone for the specified
41	41	period.
42	42	SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Chapter 173, Transportation Code,
43	43	is amended by adding Sections 173.305 and 173.306 to read as
44	44	follows:
45	45	Sec. 173.305. TAX INCREMENT FUND FOR TRANSPORTATION
46	46	INFRASTRUCTURE ZONE IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS. A district established
47	47	before January 1, 2005, that creates a transportation
48	48	infrastructure zone shall establish a tax increment fund. In
49	49	addition to the amount of tax increment deposited to the tax
50	50	increment fund, all revenue from the sale of tax increment bonds or
51	51	notes under Section 173.306, revenue from the sale of any property
52	52	acquired as part of a plan adopted to use tax increment financing,
53	53	and other revenue to be used in implementing the plan shall be
54	54	deposited in the tax increment fund for the zone.
55	55	Sec. 173.306. TAX INCREMENT BONDS AND NOTES ISSUED BY LOCAL
56	56	GOVERNMENT MEMBER IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS. (a) This section applies
57	57	only to a district created before January 1, 2005.
58	58	(b) A local government member of a district creating a
59	59	transportation infrastructure zone may issue tax increment bonds or
60	60	notes, including refunding bonds, secured by revenue in the local
61	61	government's tax increment fund. Proceeds of bonds issued under
62	62	this section may be used to:
63	63	(1) pay project costs for the zone on behalf of which
64	64	the bonds or notes were issued; or
65	65	(2) satisfy claims of holders of the bonds or notes.
66	66	(c) Tax increment bonds and notes are payable, as to both
67	67	principal and interest, solely from the tax increment fund
68	68	established for the transportation infrastructure zone. The local
69	69	government may pledge irrevocably all or part of the fund for
70	70	payment of tax increment bonds or notes. The part of the fund
71	71	pledged in payment may be used only for the payment of the bonds or
72	72	notes or interest on the bonds or notes until the bonds or notes
73	73	have been fully paid. A holder of the bonds or notes or of coupons
74	74	issued on the bonds has a lien against the fund for payment of the
75	75	bonds or notes and interest on the bonds or notes and may protect or
76	76	enforce the lien at law or in equity.
77	77	(d) A tax increment bond or note is not a general obligation
78	78	of the local government issuing the bond or note. A tax increment
79	79	bond or note does not give rise to a charge against the general
80	80	credit or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable
81	81	except as provided by this section.
82	82	(e) A local government's obligation to deposit sales and use
83	83	taxes into the tax increment fund is not a general obligation of the
84	84	local government. An obligation to make payments from sales and
85	85	use taxes does not give rise to a charge against the general credit
86	86	or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable except
87	87	as provided by this section. A tax increment bond or note issued
88	88	under this section that pledges payments must state the
89	89	restrictions of this section on its face.
90	90	(f) A tax increment bond or note may not be included in any
91	91	computation of the debt of the issuing local government.
92	92	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.