Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB650 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R7707 SMH-D
2	2	By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 650
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to tax increment financing.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 311.005, Tax Code, is amended by
10	10	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
11	11	follows:
12	12	(a) To be designated as a reinvestment zone, an area must:
13	13	(1) substantially arrest or impair the sound growth of
14	14	the municipality or county designating the zone, retard the
15	15	provision of housing accommodations, or constitute an economic or
16	16	social liability and be a menace to the public health, safety,
17	17	morals, or welfare in its present condition and use because of the
18	18	presence of:
19	19	(A) a substantial number of substandard, slum,
20	20	deteriorated, or deteriorating structures;
21	21	(B) the predominance of defective or inadequate
22	22	sidewalk or street layout;
23	23	(C) faulty lot layout in relation to size,
24	24	adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness;
25	25	(D) unsanitary or unsafe conditions;
26	26	(E) the deterioration of site or other
27	27	improvements;
28	28	(F) tax or special assessment delinquency
29	29	exceeding the fair value of the land;
30	30	(G) defective or unusual conditions of title;
31	31	(H) conditions that endanger life or property by
32	32	fire or other cause; or
33	33	(I) structures, other than single-family
34	34	residential structures, less than 10 percent of the square footage
35	35	of which has been used for commercial, industrial, or residential
36	36	purposes during the preceding 12 years, if the municipality has a
37	37	population of 100,000 or more;
38	38	(2) be predominantly open or undeveloped and, because
39	39	of obsolete platting, deterioration of structures or site
40	40	improvements, or other factors, substantially impair or arrest the
41	41	sound growth of the municipality or county;
42	42	(3) be in a federally assisted new community located
43	43	in the municipality or county or in an area immediately adjacent to
44	44	a federally assisted new community; or
45	45	(4) be an area that is:
46	46	(A) described in a petition requesting that the
47	47	area be designated as a reinvestment zone, if the petition is
48	48	submitted to the governing body of the municipality or county by the
49	49	owners of property constituting at least 50 percent of the
50	50	appraised value of the property in the area according to the most
51	51	recent certified appraisal roll for the county in which the area is
52	52	located; and
53	53	(B) unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted.
54	54	(c) The attorney general shall determine, by application of
55	55	accepted legal principles, the meaning of "unproductive,"
56	56	"underdeveloped," and "blighted" for purposes of Subsection (a)(4)
57	57	and by rule define those terms.
58	58	SECTION 2. Section 311.0085(c), Tax Code, is amended to
59	59	read as follows:
60	60	(c) In addition to exercising the powers described by
61	61	Section 311.008, a municipality may enter into a new agreement, or
62	62	amend an existing agreement, with a school district that is located
63	63	in whole or in part in a reinvestment zone created by the
64	64	municipality to dedicate revenue from the tax increment fund to the
65	65	school district for acquiring, constructing, or reconstructing an
66	66	educational facility located in [or outside of] the zone.
67	67	SECTION 3. Section 311.010(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
68	68	as follows:
69	69	(b) The board of directors of a reinvestment zone and the
70	70	governing body of the municipality or county that creates a
71	71	reinvestment zone may each enter into agreements as the board or the
72	72	governing body considers necessary or convenient to implement the
73	73	project plan and reinvestment zone financing plan and achieve their
74	74	purposes. An agreement may provide for the regulation or
75	75	restriction of the use of land by imposing conditions,
76	76	restrictions, or covenants that run with the land. An agreement may
77	77	during the term of the agreement dedicate, pledge, or otherwise
78	78	provide for the use of revenue in the tax increment fund to pay any
79	79	project costs that benefit the reinvestment zone, including project
80	80	costs relating to the cost of buildings, schools, or other
81	81	educational facilities owned by or on behalf of a school district,
82	82	community college district, or other political subdivision of this
83	83	state, railroad or transit facilities, affordable housing, the
84	84	remediation of conditions that contaminate public or private land
85	85	or buildings, the preservation of the facade of a private or public
86	86	building, the demolition of public or private buildings, or the
87	87	construction of a road, sidewalk, or other public infrastructure in
88	88	[or out of] the zone, including the cost of acquiring the real
89	89	property necessary for the construction of the road, sidewalk, or
90	90	other public infrastructure. An agreement may dedicate revenue
91	91	from the tax increment fund to pay the costs of providing affordable
92	92	housing or areas of public assembly in [or out of] the zone.
93	93	SECTION 4. Section 311.015, Tax Code, is amended by adding
94	94	Subsections (m) and (n) to read as follows:
95	95	(m) Not later than the seventh day before the date of the
96	96	meeting at which the governing body of the municipality will vote on
97	97	an ordinance to issue tax increment bonds or notes, the
98	98	municipality must provide notice of the date, time, and place of the
99	99	meeting by delivering the notice by mail to:
100	100	(1) each property owner in the municipality;
101	101	(2) the commissioners court of each county in which a
102	102	portion of the reinvestment zone is located; and
103	103	(3) each state senator and representative whose
104	104	district includes territory in a county in which a portion of the
105	105	reinvestment zone is located.
106	106	(n) At the time a municipality submits tax increment bonds
107	107	and the record of proceedings relating to the authorization of the
108	108	bonds to the attorney general under Section 1202.003, Government
109	109	Code, the municipality must deliver notice of the submission by
110	110	mail to:
111	111	(1) the commissioners court of each county in which a
112	112	portion of the reinvestment zone is located; and
113	113	(2) each state senator and representative whose
114	114	district includes territory in a county in which a portion of the
115	115	reinvestment zone is located.
116	116	SECTION 5. Chapter 311, Tax Code, is amended by adding
117	117	Section 311.0155 to read as follows:
118	118	Sec. 311.0155. ATTORNEY GENERAL DETERMINATION REGARDING
119	119	REINVESTMENT ZONE. (a) A municipality designating a reinvestment
120	120	zone may not undertake the initial issuance of tax increment bonds
121	121	for the zone unless:
122	122	(1) the municipality provides evidence to the attorney
123	123	general demonstrating that the zone:
124	124	(A) meets the requirements of Section 311.005;
125	125	and
126	126	(B) is not ineligible for designation as a
127	127	reinvestment zone under Section 311.006; and
128	128	(2) the attorney general determines that the evidence
129	129	is legally sufficient.
130	130	(b) The attorney general shall provide a legal sufficiency
131	131	determination not later than the 60th business day after the date
132	132	the evidence required by Subsection (a) is received. If the
133	133	attorney general cannot provide a legal sufficiency determination
134	134	within the 60-business-day period, the attorney general shall
135	135	notify the municipality in writing of the reason for the delay and
136	136	may extend the review period for not more than 30 business days.
137	137	(c) After the attorney general issues a legal sufficiency
138	138	determination, the municipality may supplement the evidence
139	139	submitted or amend the ordinance designating the reinvestment zone
140	140	to facilitate a redetermination by the attorney general of the
141	141	prior legal sufficiency determination issued under this section.
142	142	(d) The attorney general may adopt rules as necessary to
143	143	implement this section.
144	144	SECTION 6. Sections 311.01005 and 311.014(f), Tax Code, are
145	145	repealed.
146	146	SECTION 7. The attorney general shall adopt rules under
147	147	Section 311.005(c), Tax Code, as added by this Act, not later than
148	148	January 1, 2018.
149	149	SECTION 8. Section 311.005(a), Tax Code, as amended by this
150	150	Act, applies only to a reinvestment zone designated on or after the
151	151	date the rules adopted under Section 311.005(c), Tax Code, as added
152	152	by this Act, take effect. A reinvestment zone designated before the
153	153	date the rules adopted under Section 311.005(c), Tax Code, as added
154	154	by this Act, take effect is governed by the law as it existed
155	155	immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
156	156	continued in effect for that purpose.
157	157	SECTION 9. Sections 311.0085(c) and 311.010(b), Tax Code,
158	158	as amended by this Act, apply only to a new agreement entered into
159	159	on or after the effective date of this Act or an amendment on or
160	160	after the effective date of this Act to an existing agreement. A
161	161	new agreement entered into before the effective date of this Act or
162	162	an amendment before the effective date of this Act to an existing
163	163	agreement is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
164	164	the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
165	165	for that purpose.
166	166	SECTION 10. The repeal of Section 311.01005, Tax Code, by
167	167	this Act does not affect an agreement described by former Section
168	168	311.01005(c), Tax Code, that is entered into before the effective
169	169	date of this Act. An agreement described by former Section
170	170	311.01005(c), Tax Code, that is entered into before the effective
171	171	date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately
172	172	before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
173	173	effect for that purpose.
174	174	SECTION 11. The repeal of Section 311.014(f), Tax Code, by
175	175	this Act does not affect a transfer of money described by that
176	176	subsection that occurs before the effective date of this Act. A
177	177	transfer of money described by former Section 311.014(f), Tax Code,
178	178	that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
179	179	law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
180	180	and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
181	181	SECTION 12. Section 311.015(m), Tax Code, as added by this
182	182	Act, applies only to a meeting to vote on an ordinance to issue tax
183	183	increment bonds or notes that is held on or after the effective date
184	184	of this Act. A meeting to vote on an ordinance to issue tax
185	185	increment bonds or notes that is held before the effective date of
186	186	this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
187	187	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
188	188	that purpose.
189	189	SECTION 13. Section 311.015(n), Tax Code, as added by this
190	190	Act, applies only to tax increment bonds that are submitted to the
191	191	attorney general for approval on or after the effective date of this
192	192	Act. Tax increment bonds that are submitted to the attorney general
193	193	for approval before the effective date of this Act are governed by
194	194	the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
195	195	Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
196	196	SECTION 14. Section 311.0155, Tax Code, as added by this
197	197	Act, applies only to an initial issuance of tax increment bonds for
198	198	a reinvestment zone that is undertaken on or after the effective
199	199	date of this Act. An initial issuance of tax increment bonds for a
200	200	reinvestment zone that is undertaken before the effective date of
201	201	this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
202	202	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
203	203	that purpose.
204	204	SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.