86R27665 AAF-D
By: Biedermann H.B. No. 2590
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration, powers, and duties of a municipal
utility district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.022, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 54.022. TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. (a) If the commission
grants the petition, it shall appoint five temporary directors to
serve until permanent directors are elected.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a majority of
temporary directors appointed under Subsection (a) must be
residents of:
(1) the county in which the district is located;
(2) a county adjacent to the county described by
Subdivision (1); or
(3) if the district is located in a county that is in a
metropolitan statistical area designated by the United States
Office of Management and Budget or its successor agency, a county in
the same metropolitan statistical area as the county in which the
district is located.
(c) The commission may appoint temporary directors that do
not meet the requirements of Subsection (b) if the petition or the
application accompanying the petition provides that the petitioner
made reasonable efforts but failed to identify candidates meeting
those requirements who were willing to serve as temporary
directors.
SECTION 2. Section 54.030, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e)
to read as follows:
(b) The governing body of a district which desires to
convert into a district operating under this chapter shall, after
providing notice in accordance with Section 54.032, hold a hearing
on the question of the conversion of the district [adopt and enter
in the minutes of the governing body a resolution declaring that in
its judgment, conversion] into a municipal utility district
operating under this chapter and under Article XVI, Section 59, of
the Texas Constitution.
(c) The governing body of the converting district must
present a general description of any litigation that is pending
against the district at the hearing under Subsection (b).
(d) After the hearing held under Subsection (b), the
governing body of the converting district may adopt and enter in the
minutes of the governing body a resolution declaring that in the
judgment of the governing body, conversion under that subsection
[,] would serve the best interest of the district and would be a
benefit to the land and property included in the district. The
resolution shall also request that the commission approve [to hold
a hearing on the question of] the conversion of the district.
(e) [(c)] A copy of the resolution under Subsection (d)
shall be:
(1) filed with the commission; and
(2) mailed to each state senator and representative
who represents the area in which the district is located.
SECTION 3. Section 54.032(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a district described by Section
54.030(b) shall give notice [Notice] of the conversion hearing
[shall be given] by publishing notice in a newspaper with general
circulation in the [county or counties in which] the district [is
located].
SECTION 4. Section 54.033(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) After receiving a request for the approval of a
conversion under Section 54.030(d) [a hearing], if the commission
finds that conversion of the district into one operating under this
chapter would serve the best interest of the district and would be a
benefit to the land and property included in the district, the
commission [it] shall enter an order making this finding and the
district shall become a district operating under this chapter and
no confirmation election is [shall be] required.
SECTION 5. Section 54.022, Water Code, as amended by this
Act, does not affect the entitlement of a temporary director
serving on the board of directors of a municipal utility district
under Chapter 54, Water Code, immediately before the effective date
of this Act to continue to serve as a temporary director for the
remainder of the director's term.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a water district's conversion into a municipal utility district
operating under Chapter 54, Water Code, occurring on or after the
effective date of this Act. A conversion that occurs before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the conversion occurred, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.