By: Sheets H.B. No. 3207
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas
to approve certain payments by municipally owned utilities for
transmission facilities in lieu of ad valorem taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.051, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g), Payments in Lieu of Ad Valorem, to read as
follows:
(g) A municipally owned utility that is required to apply
for a certificate of convenience and necessity for a transmission
facility may agree with the governing body of a taxing entity with
authority to assess ad valorem taxes on the transmission facility
to make payments in lieu of ad valorem taxes on the transmission
facility. A municipally owned utility that agrees to make payments
in lieu of ad valorem taxes under this section shall recover, as
part of its transmission cost of service, the reasonable amount
paid to a taxing entity under the agreement to the extent that those
payments are the amount the municipally owned utility would have to
pay on that transmission facility if the facility were subject to ad
valorem taxation. A municipally owned utility that agrees to make
payments in lieu of ad valorem taxes under this section shall
provide a copy of the agreement to the commission.
SECTION 2. This section applies to a transmission line to be
constructed after the effective date of this act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.