Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1987 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R17582 SMH-D
2	2	By: Springer H.B. No. 1987
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1987:
4	4	By: Darby C.S.H.B. No. 1987
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the authority of the governing body of a school district
10	10	to waive or reduce the new jobs creation requirement under the Texas
11	11	Economic Development Act.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Sections 313.025(b), (d), and (f-1), Tax Code,
14	14	are amended to read as follows:
15	15	(b) The governing body of a school district is not required
16	16	to consider an application for a limitation on appraised value. If
17	17	the governing body of the school district elects to consider an
18	18	application, the governing body shall deliver a copy of the
19	19	application to the comptroller and request that the comptroller
20	20	conduct an economic impact evaluation of the investment proposed by
21	21	the application. The comptroller shall conduct or contract with a
22	22	third person to conduct the economic impact evaluation, which shall
23	23	be completed and provided to the governing body of the school
24	24	district, along with the comptroller's certificate or written
25	25	explanation under Subsection (d), as soon as practicable but not
26	26	later than the 60th [90th] day after the date the comptroller
27	27	receives the application. The governing body shall provide to the
28	28	comptroller or to a third person contracted by the comptroller to
29	29	conduct the economic impact evaluation any requested
30	30	information. A methodology to allow comparisons of economic
31	31	impact for different schedules of the addition of qualified
32	32	investment or qualified property may be developed as part of the
33	33	economic impact evaluation. The governing body shall provide a
34	34	copy of the economic impact evaluation to the applicant on
35	35	request. The comptroller may charge the applicant a fee sufficient
36	36	to cover the costs of providing the economic impact
37	37	evaluation. The governing body of a school district shall approve
38	38	or disapprove an application not later than the 150th day after the
39	39	date the application is filed, unless the economic impact
40	40	evaluation has not been received, the recommendation of the Texas
41	41	Economic Development and Tourism Office or its successor under
42	42	Subsection (f-1), if applicable, has not been received, or an
43	43	extension is agreed to by the governing body and the applicant.
44	44	(d) Not later than the 60th [90th] day after the date the
45	45	comptroller receives the copy of the application, the comptroller
46	46	shall issue a certificate for a limitation on appraised value of the
47	47	property and provide the certificate to the governing body of the
48	48	school district or provide the governing body a written explanation
49	49	of the comptroller's decision not to issue a certificate.
50	50	(f-1) The governing body of a school district may request
51	51	that the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office or its
52	52	successor submit a recommendation as to whether the new jobs
53	53	creation requirement in Section 313.021(2)(A)(iv)(b) or 313.051(b)
54	54	should be reduced or waived and, if reduced, the number of new jobs
55	55	that should be required to be created. If the governing body elects
56	56	to request that the office or its successor submit such a
57	57	recommendation, the governing body shall deliver a copy of the
58	58	application to the office or its successor and shall notify the
59	59	comptroller of the governing body's election. The comptroller shall
60	60	provide a copy of the economic impact evaluation to the office or
61	61	its successor. The recommendation of the office or its successor
62	62	shall be based on the economic impact evaluation and on any other
63	63	information available to the office or its successor, including
64	64	information provided by the governing body. The office or its
65	65	successor shall submit its recommendation to the governing body as
66	66	soon as practicable after receipt of the copy of the economic impact
67	67	evaluation but not later than the 30th day after the date the office
68	68	or its successor receives the copy of the economic impact
69	69	evaluation. The office or its successor may recommend waiving or
70	70	reducing [Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to
71	71	the contrary, including Section 313.003(2) or 313.004(3)(A) or
72	72	(B)(iii), the governing body of a school district may waive] the new
73	73	jobs creation requirement only [in Section 313.021(2)(A)(iv)(b) or
74	74	313.051(b) and approve an application] if the office or its
75	75	successor determines [governing body makes a finding] that the jobs
76	76	creation requirement exceeds the industry standard for the number
77	77	of employees reasonably necessary for the operation of the facility
78	78	of the property owner that is described in the application.
79	79	Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the governing
80	80	body may waive or reduce the new jobs creation requirement, but only
81	81	if the office or its successor recommends waiving or reducing the
82	82	requirement and only to the extent recommended by the office or its
83	83	successor.
84	84	SECTION 2. Section 313.026(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
85	85	as follows:
86	86	(a) The economic impact evaluation of the application must
87	87	include any information the comptroller determines is necessary or
88	88	helpful to:
89	89	(1) the governing body of the school district in
90	90	determining whether to approve the application under Section
91	91	313.025; [or]
92	92	(2) the comptroller in determining whether to issue a
93	93	certificate for a limitation on appraised value of the property
94	94	under Section 313.025; or
95	95	(3) the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office
96	96	or its successor in determining whether to recommend under Section
97	97	313.025 that the new jobs creation requirement be waived or
98	98	reduced, if such a recommendation is requested.
99	99	SECTION 3. Chapter 313, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
100	100	applies only to an application filed under that chapter on or after
101	101	the effective date of this Act. An application filed under that
102	102	chapter before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
103	103	in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law
104	104	is continued in effect for that purpose.
105	105	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016.