Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3993 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R11990 KJE-D
2	2	By: Rose H.B. No. 3993
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to certain programs established by a municipality to
8	8	provide affordable housing.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 374.003, Local Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Subdivision (1-a) and amending Subdivision (25)
12	12	to read as follows:
13	13	(1-a) "Affordable housing" means housing that is
14	14	affordable to households earning 70 percent or less of the area
15	15	median family income, adjusted for household size, as determined
16	16	annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
17	17	Development.
18	18	(25) "Urban renewal activities" includes slum
19	19	clearance, redevelopment, rehabilitation, and conservation
20	20	activities to prevent further deterioration of an area that is
21	21	tending to become a blighted or slum area. The term includes:
22	22	(A) the acquisition of all or part of a slum area
23	23	or blighted area or the acquisition of land that is predominantly
24	24	open and that, because of obsolete platting, diversity of
25	25	ownership, deterioration of structures or site improvements, or for
26	26	other reasons, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of
27	27	the community;
28	28	(B) the demolition and removal of buildings and
29	29	improvements;
30	30	(C) the installation, construction, or
31	31	reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and
32	32	other improvements necessary to fulfill urban renewal objectives in
33	33	accordance with an urban renewal plan;
34	34	(D) the disposition by the municipality of
35	35	property acquired in an urban renewal area for use in accordance
36	36	with an urban renewal plan, including:
37	37	(i) the sale or initial lease of the
38	38	property at its fair value;
39	39	(ii) [or] the retention of the property;
40	40	and
41	41	(iii) the transfer of the property to a
42	42	nonprofit corporation or foundation to be operated exclusively as
43	43	affordable housing;
44	44	(E) the implementation of plans for a program of
45	45	voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or improvements in
46	46	accordance with an urban renewal plan; and
47	47	(F) the acquisition of real property in an urban
48	48	renewal area as necessary to remove or prevent the spread of blight
49	49	or deterioration or to provide land for needed public facilities.
50	50	SECTION 2. Section 374.017, Local Government Code, is
51	51	amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection
52	52	(d-1) to read as follows:
53	53	(c) The purchaser, [or] lessee, or transferee of property
54	54	transferred under this section, and a successor in interest to such
55	55	a person, including an assignee, must devote the property to the
56	56	uses specified in the urban renewal plan and may be obligated to
57	57	comply with conditions specified in the deed of conveyance,
58	58	including the requirement to begin any improvements required by the
59	59	urban renewal plan within a reasonable time.
60	60	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), real [Real]
61	61	property or an interest in real property subject to this section may
62	62	only be sold, leased, or otherwise transferred or retained at not
63	63	less than the fair value of the property for uses in accordance with
64	64	the urban renewal plan. In determining the fair value, the
65	65	municipality shall consider:
66	66	(1) the uses provided in the urban renewal plan;
67	67	(2) any restrictions on and any covenants, conditions,
68	68	and obligations assumed by the purchaser, lessee, or municipality
69	69	in retaining the property;
70	70	(3) the objectives of the plan for the prevention of
71	71	the recurrence of slums or blighted areas; and
72	72	(4) any other matters that the municipality specifies
73	73	as appropriate.
74	74	(d-1) A municipality may transfer to a public or private
75	75	nonprofit corporation or foundation real property or an interest in
76	76	real property subject to this section for less than fair market
77	77	value, but only if the deed of conveyance includes a right of
78	78	reverter so that the property will revert to the municipality if the
79	79	property is not used exclusively for the provision of affordable
80	80	housing.
81	81	SECTION 3. Section 380.001(a), Local Government Code, is
82	82	amended to read as follows:
83	83	(a) The governing body of a municipality may establish and
84	84	provide for the administration of one or more programs, including
85	85	programs for making loans and grants of public money or real
86	86	property and providing personnel and services of the municipality,
87	87	to promote state or local economic development, [and] to stimulate
88	88	business and commercial activity in the municipality, and to
89	89	provide affordable housing in the municipality. For purposes of
90	90	this subsection, a municipality includes an area that:
91	91	(1) has been annexed by the municipality for limited
92	92	purposes; or
93	93	(2) is in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the
94	94	municipality.
95	95	SECTION 4. Section 380.002(a), Local Government Code, is
96	96	amended to read as follows:
97	97	(a) A home-rule municipality with a population of more than
98	98	100,000 may create programs for the grant of public money to any
99	99	organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(a) of the
100	100	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as an organization described in
101	101	Section 501(c)(3) of that code for the public purposes of
102	102	development and diversification of the economy of the state,
103	103	elimination of unemployment or underemployment in the state, and
104	104	development or expansion of commerce in the state. The
105	105	municipality may also create programs for the grant of real
106	106	property owned by the municipality to such an organization for the
107	107	public purpose of providing affordable housing in the municipality.
108	108	The grants must be in furtherance of those public purposes and shall
109	109	be used by the recipient as determined by the recipient's governing
110	110	board for programs found by the municipality to be in furtherance of
111	111	this section and under conditions prescribed by the municipality.
112	112	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.