H.B. No. 1053
AN ACT
relating to the administration, powers, and duties of certain
navigation districts; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 404, Acts of the 53rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1953, is amended by adding Section 11 to read as
follows:
Sec. 11. (a) The District may sell, exchange, or lease
real property or any interest in real property owned by it, whether
the real property was acquired by gift or purchase, in settlement of
any litigation, controversy, or claim in behalf of the District, or
in any other manner, except that lands or flats heretofore
purchased from the State of Texas under former Article 8225,
Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, or granted by the State of
Texas in any general or special act, may be sold only to the State of
Texas or exchanged with the State of Texas for other lands or
exchanged for adjacent littoral land as authorized by Section
61.117, Water Code. The District may impose restrictions on the
development, use, and transfer of any real property or interest in
real property, other than lands or flats purchased from the State of
Texas under former Article 8225, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas,
1925, or granted by the State of Texas in any general or special
act, in connection with its sale or exchange under this section.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d) of this section,
before the District may sell or exchange real property, the Board
shall determine by resolution that the land is no longer needed for
use by the District in connection with the development of a
navigation project.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f) of
this section, a sale or exchange of real property shall be made as
provided by Sections 60.040-60.042, Water Code.
(d) The District may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or
lease land, improvements, easements, or any other interests in real
property to promote an authorized project. For the purposes of this
subsection, "authorized project" means a project that includes the
land, buildings, equipment, facilities, expenditures, targeted
infrastructure, and improvements that are:
(1) for the purpose of economic development; and
(2) found by the board of directors to be required or
suitable for the development, retention, or expansion of:
(A) manufacturing and industrial facilities;
(B) research and development facilities;
(C) military facilities;
(D) law enforcement facilities;
(E) transportation facilities;
(F) sewage or solid waste disposal facilities;
(G) recycling facilities;
(H) air or water pollution control facilities;
(I) facilities for the transmission and
treatment of water;
(J) distribution centers;
(K) warehouse facilities;
(L) education or job training facilities; or
(M) corporate headquarters facilities.
(e) The District may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or
lease a real property interest under Subsection (d) of this section
for less than its fair market value and without complying with the
notice and bidding requirements of Sections 60.040-60.042, Water
Code.
(f) Narrow strips of real property resulting from boundary
or surveying conflicts or similar causes, or from insubstantial
encroachments by abutting real property owners, or real property of
larger configuration that has been subject to encroachments by
abutting real property owners for more than 25 years may be
abandoned, released, exchanged, or transferred to such abutting
owners on terms and conditions considered appropriate or
advantageous to the District. The District may convey real
property under this subsection for less than its fair market value
and without complying with the notice and bidding requirements of
Sections 60.040-60.042, Water Code.
(g) The District may grant easements over or on its real
property on terms and conditions the Board determines to be
advantageous to the District.
(h) The authority granted to the District by this section to
dispose of interests in real property is in addition to any
authority granted by Chapter 272, Local Government Code, and a
disposition of an interest in real property under this section is
exempt from the notice, bidding, and other requirements of Chapter
272, Local Government Code.
SECTION 2. Chapter 5013, Special District Local Laws Code,
is amended by designating Sections 5013.001 and 5013.002 as
Subchapter A and adding a subchapter heading to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 3. Section 5013.001, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5013.001. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this chapter:
(1) "Authority"[, "authority"] means the Port of
Harlingen Authority.
(2) "Port commission" means the governing body of the
authority.
(3) "Port commissioner" means a member of the port
commission.
(4) "Treasurer" means the treasurer of the authority.
SECTION 4. Chapter 5013, Special District Local Laws Code,
is amended by adding Subchapter B, and a heading is added to that
subchapter to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. PORT COMMISSION
SECTION 5. Section 5013.003, Special District Local Laws
Code, is transferred to Subchapter B, Chapter 5013, Special
District Local Laws Code, as added by this Act, redesignated as
Section 5013.051, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5013.051 [5013.003]. GOVERNING BODY. (a) The
navigation and canal commission of the authority is called the port
commission and is composed of port commissioners.
(b) The port commission shall divide the territory of the
authority into four numbered single-member districts for electing
port commissioners.
(c) The port commission may revise the single-member
districts as necessary or appropriate.
(d) The port commission consists of five port
commissioners. One port commissioner is elected from each
single-member district, and one port commissioner is elected from
the authority at large.
(e) Port commissioners serve staggered four-year terms.
(f) The port commissioner elected from the authority at
large serves as the presiding officer of the port commission.
(g) The port commission shall hold an election to elect the
appropriate number of port commissioners on the uniform election
date in November of each odd-numbered year.
SECTION 6. Chapter 5013, Special District Local Laws Code,
is amended by adding Subchapters C and D to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 5013.101. TREASURER. (a) The port commission:
(1) shall hire or appoint a treasurer; and
(2) may terminate or suspend the employment or
appointment of the treasurer.
(b) The treasurer has the power and duties of a treasurer
under Chapters 60 and 62, Water Code.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 62.152, Water Code, the
treasurer shall pay all authority expenses from authority funds.
Sec. 5013.102. SALES AND LEASES. (a) Except as provided by
this section, the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 60, Water
Code, apply to all sales and leases entered into by the authority.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 60.039, Water Code, the
authority may enter into a surface lease for a period of not more
than 99 years.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 60.040, Water Code, the
authority is not required to publish notice for a sale, easement, or
lease for a period of not more than 99 years.
(d) Sections 60.041 and 60.042, Water Code, do not apply to
a bid on real property to be sold by the authority.
SUBCHAPTER D. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 5013.151. MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION TAX; TAX RATE.
(a) The authority may impose an ad valorem tax at a rate not to
exceed 10 cents on each $100 valuation of all taxable property in
the authority for the maintenance, operation, and upkeep of the
authority and the improvements constructed by the authority.
(b) The authority may change the rate or suspend collection
of the tax authorized by this section in the manner provided by law
for official action by the authority, subject to the limitation
prescribed by Subsection (a).
(c) Section 62.160, Water Code, does not apply to the
authority.
Sec. 5013.152. SELECTION OF DEPOSITORY. (a) Except as
provided by this section, the authority shall select a depository
for the authority in the manner provided by Section 60.271, Water
Code.
(b) The authority shall select a depository in a manner to
ensure that authority funds are fully insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union Share
Insurance Fund.
(c) The authority may select more than one institution to
serve as a depository in order to comply with the requirement under
Subsection (b).
SECTION 7. (a) In this section, "authority," "port
commission," and "port commissioner" have the meanings assigned by
Section 5013.001, Special District Local Laws Code, as amended by
this Act.
(b) Not later than June 1, 2021, the port commission shall
divide the territory of the authority into four numbered
single-member districts as required by Section 5013.051, Special
District Local Laws Code, as redesignated and amended by this Act.
(c) A port commissioner of the authority who is serving on
the day before the effective date of this Act shall serve until a
successor qualifies following an election under Subsection (d) of
this section.
(d) On the uniform election date in November 2021, the port
commission shall hold an election to elect one at-large port
commissioner and four port commissioners from single-member
districts.
(e) The five port commissioners elected under Subsection
(d) of this section shall draw lots to determine which two port
commissioners shall serve a term expiring December 1, 2023, and
which three port commissioners shall serve a term expiring December
1, 2025.
(f) On the uniform election date in November 2023, the port
commission shall hold an election to elect two port commissioners
to terms of four years.
(g) On the uniform election date in 2025, the port
commission shall hold an election to elect three port commissioners
to terms of four years.
SECTION 8. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce a bill relating to the administration, powers, and duties
of the Port of Harlingen Authority, setting forth the general
substance of a bill relating to the administration, powers, and
duties of the Port of Harlingen Authority, has been published as
provided by law, and the notice and a copy of a bill relating to the
administration, powers, and duties of the Port of Harlingen
Authority have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials,
or entities to which they are required to be furnished under Section
59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313, Government
Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and a copy of a bill relating to the
administration, powers, and duties of the Port of Harlingen
Authority to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to a bill relating to the
administration, powers, and duties of the Port of Harlingen
Authority with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the
speaker of the house of representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of a bill relating to the
administration, powers, and duties of the Port of Harlingen
Authority are fulfilled and accomplished.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1053 was passed by the House on April
11, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 1053 on May 23, 2019, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 1053 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1053 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
4; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
1053 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor