Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1895 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: West S.B. No. 1895
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to certain programs established by a municipality to
7	7	provide affordable housing.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 374.003, Local Government Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Subdivision (1-a) and amending Subdivision (25)
11	11	to read as follows:
12	12	(1-a) "Affordable housing" means housing that is
13	13	affordable to households earning 70 percent or less of the area
14	14	median family income, adjusted for household size, as determined
15	15	annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
16	16	Development.
17	17	(25) "Urban renewal activities" includes slum
18	18	clearance, redevelopment, rehabilitation, and conservation
19	19	activities to prevent further deterioration of an area that is
20	20	tending to become a blighted or slum area. The term includes:
21	21	(A) the acquisition of all or part of a slum area
22	22	or blighted area or the acquisition of land that is predominantly
23	23	open and that, because of obsolete platting, diversity of
24	24	ownership, deterioration of structures or site improvements, or for
25	25	other reasons, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of
26	26	the community;
27	27	(B) the demolition and removal of buildings and
28	28	improvements;
29	29	(C) the installation, construction, or
30	30	reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and
31	31	other improvements necessary to fulfill urban renewal objectives in
32	32	accordance with an urban renewal plan;
33	33	(D) the disposition by the municipality of
34	34	property acquired in an urban renewal area for use in accordance
35	35	with an urban renewal plan, including:
36	36	(i) the sale or initial lease of the
37	37	property at its fair value;
38	38	(ii) [or] the retention of the property;
39	39	and
40	40	(iii) the transfer of the property to a
41	41	nonprofit corporation or foundation to be operated exclusively as
42	42	affordable housing;
43	43	(E) the implementation of plans for a program of
44	44	voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or improvements in
45	45	accordance with an urban renewal plan; and
46	46	(F) the acquisition of real property in an urban
47	47	renewal area as necessary to remove or prevent the spread of blight
48	48	or deterioration or to provide land for needed public facilities.
49	49	SECTION 2. Section 374.017, Local Government Code, is
50	50	amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection
51	51	(d-1) to read as follows:
52	52	(c) The purchaser, [or] lessee, or transferee of property
53	53	transferred under this section, and a successor in interest to such
54	54	a person, including an assignee, must devote the property to the
55	55	uses specified in the urban renewal plan and may be obligated to
56	56	comply with conditions specified in the deed of conveyance,
57	57	including the requirement to begin any improvements required by the
58	58	urban renewal plan within a reasonable time.
59	59	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), real [Real]
60	60	property or an interest in real property subject to this section may
61	61	only be sold, leased, or otherwise transferred or retained at not
62	62	less than the fair value of the property for uses in accordance with
63	63	the urban renewal plan. In determining the fair value, the
64	64	municipality shall consider:
65	65	(1) the uses provided in the urban renewal plan;
66	66	(2) any restrictions on and any covenants, conditions,
67	67	and obligations assumed by the purchaser, lessee, or municipality
68	68	in retaining the property;
69	69	(3) the objectives of the plan for the prevention of
70	70	the recurrence of slums or blighted areas; and
71	71	(4) any other matters that the municipality specifies
72	72	as appropriate.
73	73	(d-1) A municipality may transfer to a public or private
74	74	nonprofit corporation or foundation real property or an interest in
75	75	real property subject to this section for less than fair market
76	76	value, but only if the deed of conveyance includes a right of
77	77	reverter so that the property will revert to the municipality if the
78	78	property is not used exclusively for the provision of affordable
79	79	housing.
80	80	SECTION 3. Section 380.001(a), Local Government Code, is
81	81	amended to read as follows:
82	82	(a) The governing body of a municipality may establish and
83	83	provide for the administration of one or more programs, including
84	84	programs for making loans and grants of public money or real
85	85	property and providing personnel and services of the municipality,
86	86	to promote state or local economic development, [and] to stimulate
87	87	business and commercial activity in the municipality, and to
88	88	provide affordable housing in the municipality. For purposes of
89	89	this subsection, a municipality includes an area that:
90	90	(1) has been annexed by the municipality for limited
91	91	purposes; or
92	92	(2) is in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the
93	93	municipality.
94	94	SECTION 4. Section 380.002(a), Local Government Code, is
95	95	amended to read as follows:
96	96	(a) A home-rule municipality with a population of more than
97	97	100,000 may create programs for the grant of public money to any
98	98	organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(a) of the
99	99	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as an organization described in
100	100	Section 501(c)(3) of that code for the public purposes of
101	101	development and diversification of the economy of the state,
102	102	elimination of unemployment or underemployment in the state, and
103	103	development or expansion of commerce in the state. The
104	104	municipality may also create programs for the grant of real
105	105	property owned by the municipality to such an organization for the
106	106	public purpose of providing affordable housing in the municipality.
107	107	The grants must be in furtherance of those public purposes and shall
108	108	be used by the recipient as determined by the recipient's governing
109	109	board for programs found by the municipality to be in furtherance of
110	110	this section and under conditions prescribed by the municipality.
111	111	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.