By: N. Gonzalez of El Paso H.B. No. 2975
(Senate Sponsor - Rodriguez)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 2013;
May 9, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 16, 2013, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 16, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the merger of housing authorities in certain
municipalities and counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 392, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Sections 392.0131 and 392.0161 to read as
follows:
Sec. 392.0131. MERGER OF CERTAIN COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITIES
INTO MUNICIPAL HOUSING AUTHORITIES. (a) This section applies only
to the merger of housing authorities operating in:
(1) a county that has a population of 800,000 or more
and is located on the international border; and
(2) a municipality that has a population of more than
600,000 and less than 700,000 and is located in a county described
by Subdivision (1).
(b) If the commissioners court of a county described by
Subsection (a)(1) and the governing body of a municipality
described by Subsection (a)(2) declare by resolutions that there is
a need for the county housing authority to consolidate its powers
with the municipal housing authority under this chapter, the county
housing authority is merged into the housing authority for the
municipality.
(c) The commissioners court and the governing body of the
municipality may adopt a resolution declaring that there is a need
for a merger as described by Subsection (b) only if the
commissioners court and the governing body of the municipality each
find that a merged housing authority would be more efficient or
economical than separate county and municipal housing authorities
in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
(d) If a county housing authority has outstanding
obligations, the commissioners court may not adopt a resolution
declaring a need for a merger as described by Subsection (b) unless:
(1) each obligee of the authority and each party to a
contract, bond, note, or other obligation of the authority agrees
to the substitution of the municipal housing authority on the
contract, bond, note, or other obligation; and
(2) the commissioners of the county housing authority
and of the municipal housing authority to be merged each adopt
resolutions consenting to the transfer of the rights, contracts,
agreements, obligations, and property of the county housing
authority to the municipal housing authority.
(e) In a proceeding involving the validity or enforcement
of, or relating to, a contract of a merged housing authority, proof
of a resolution adopted under Subsection (b) by the commissioners
court of the county and the governing body of the municipality is
conclusive evidence that the merged housing authority is authorized
to transact business and exercise its powers under this chapter.
(f) When housing authorities are merged in the manner
provided by this section:
(1) the rights, contracts, agreements, obligations,
and property of the county housing authority become those of the
municipal housing authority;
(2) the county housing authority shall execute deeds
of the property to the municipal housing authority, which shall
file the deeds with the county clerk of the county where the real
property is located; and
(3) a person with rights or remedies against the
county housing authority may assert, enforce, and prosecute those
rights or remedies against the municipal housing authority.
(g) The vesting of the real property in the municipal
housing authority is not contingent on compliance with Subsection
(f)(2).
(h) At the time housing authorities are merged in the manner
provided by this section, the county housing authority ceases to
exist, except for the purpose of winding up the affairs of the
authority and executing the deeds of real property to the municipal
housing authority.
Sec. 392.0161. AREA OF OPERATION OF A MERGED HOUSING
AUTHORITY. Notwithstanding Section 392.017(b), the area of
operation of a merged housing authority is the county in which the
authority is created, excluding any part of the county that is
within the territorial boundaries of a municipality other than the
municipality operating the municipal housing authority into which
the county housing authority was merged.
SECTION 2. Section 392.019, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 392.019. EFFECT OF COOPERATION AGREEMENT ON AREA OF
OPERATION OF HOUSING AUTHORITY. Regardless of Sections 392.015,
[and] 392.016, and 392.0161, the area of operation of a municipal
housing authority, a county housing authority, [or] a regional
housing authority, or a merged housing authority may extend to and
include another municipality, county, or other political
subdivision of this state, under the terms of a cooperation
agreement made under Section 392.059.
SECTION 3. Sections 392.063(a) and (c), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A county, [or] regional, or merged housing authority may
borrow money, accept grants, and exercise its powers to provide
housing for farmers of low income.
(c) The owner of a farm operated, or worked on, by farmers of
low income in need of safe and sanitary housing may file an
application with a county, [or] regional, or merged housing
authority requesting that the authority provide safe and sanitary
housing for the farmers. The housing authority shall consider the
applications in connection with the formulation of projects or
programs to provide housing for farmers of low income.
SECTION 4. 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, 2013.
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