By: Toth (Senate Sponsor - Williams) H.B. No. 3895
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 14, 2013;
May 14, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 17, 2013, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 17, 2013, sent to
printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the name of The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1,
of Montgomery County, Texas, and to the administration, powers, and
duties of the district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1(a), Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Pursuant to Article III, Section 52, of the Texas
Constitution, a road utility district is created in Montgomery
County, subject to approval at a confirmation election under
Section 9 of this Act, to be known as "The Woodlands Road Utility
District No. 1[, of Montgomery County, Texas]," which shall be a
governmental agency and a body politic and corporate.
SECTION 2. Section 2(3), Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991, is amended to read as follows:
(3) "District" means the The Woodlands Road Utility
District No. 1[, of Montgomery County, Texas].
SECTION 3. Sections 6(a) and (b), Chapter 816, Acts of the
72nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1991, are amended to read as
follows:
(a) The district has all of the rights, powers, privileges,
authority, duties, and functions conferred by the general law of
this state applicable to road utility districts created under
Article III, Section 52, of the Texas Constitution, including
Chapter 441, Transportation Code [13, Acts of the 68th Legislature,
2nd Called Session, 1984 (Article 6674r-1, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)], to the extent those provisions can be made applicable.
If any provision of general law is in conflict or inconsistent with
this Act, this Act prevails. A provision of Chapter 441,
Transportation Code, granting the Texas Transportation Commission
jurisdiction over road utility district activities or projects does
not apply to the district.
(b) In addition to the rights, powers, privileges,
authority, and functions provided by Subsection (a) of this
section, the district may:
(1) add or exclude territory in the manner provided by
Subchapter H, Chapter 54, Water Code, and may define the boundaries
of the district by:
(A) metes and bounds;
(B) reference to property descriptions in
documents filed for record in the real property records of the
county or counties in which the district is located; or
(C) a combination of the methods described in
Paragraphs (A) and (B);
(2) contract with any person for the payment,
repayment, or reimbursement, out of bond proceeds or any other
specified source of funds, of any costs and reasonable carrying
costs incurred by that person for or on behalf of the district,
including the costs of constructing, acquiring, or improving a
district facility, notwithstanding that the facility may have been
conveyed to and accepted by the appropriate governmental entity
prior to the payment, repayment, or reimbursement;
(3) make application for and contract with any person
or entity to: receive, administer, and perform the district's
duties and obligations under any federal, state, local, or private
gift, grant, loan, conveyance, transfer, bequest, donation, or
other financial assistance arrangement relating to the
investigation, planning, analysis, study, design, acquisition,
construction, improvement, completion, implementation, or
operation by the district or others of a proposed or existing
district facility or other roadway, water borne, pedestrian
movement, or public transportation or conveyance system, facility,
or improvement contemplated or described by Article III, Section
52(b), of the Texas Constitution; and
(4) provide or secure the payment or repayment of the
district's costs or share of the costs by or through a contract or
agreement with any person, or the issuance of district bonds, the
levy of a maintenance tax, or the assessment of fees, in the manner
provided by general law.
SECTION 4. Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1991, is amended by adding Section 6A to read as
follows:
Sec. 6A. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTION JUDGES AND
CLERKS. Notwithstanding the requirements of Section 32.051,
Election Code, to be eligible to serve as a judge or clerk for a
district election, a person must be a qualified voter of either
Harris County or Montgomery County.
SECTION 5. Section 7, Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991, is amended by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 7A, the [The] district is
governed by a board of five directors.
(d) A majority of all directors, including vacant director
positions and absent directors, constitutes a quorum.
(e) A majority vote of all directors, including vacant
director positions and absent directors, is necessary to adopt any
motion or measure.
SECTION 6. Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1991, is amended by adding Section 7A to read as
follows:
Sec. 7A. APPOINTED DIRECTORS. (a) The board, on its own
motion and by written resolution, may from time to time increase the
number of directors on the board to include a director appointed by
each governing body of one or more political subdivisions, other
than a school district or municipality, the boundaries of which
overlap more than 90 percent of the territory of the district.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, or a common law or
judicial doctrine to the contrary, a political subdivision
described by Subsection (a) may appoint to the board a member of the
governing body of or an employee of that political subdivision. A
director described by this subsection shall serve without
compensation from the district and shall take and perform the
constitutional oath of office as a director of the district.
SECTION 7. Section 11(b), Chapter 816, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991, is amended to read as follows:
(b) If at any time there are fewer than the number of [three]
directors on the board necessary to constitute a quorum, the
commission shall, on petition of a person who owns land included in
the district, fill each vacancy for the unexpired term.
SECTION 8. 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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