By: Jetton, et al. H.B. No. 2815
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers, authorities, duties, and responsibilities
of certain conservation and reclamation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 375.022, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) The petition may request that a succeeding board of
directors be elected under Section 375.0645 instead of being
appointed under Section 375.064.
(e) On receipt by the commission of a petition that complies
with this section, the commission shall issue a notice indicating
that the petition is administratively complete and may conduct a
hearing on the petition in the manner provided by Section 49.011,
Water Code, if the commission determines that a hearing is
necessary.
SECTION 2. Section 375.025(c), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) If [after the hearing] the commission finds that the
petition is sufficient and conforms to the requirements of Section
375.022(c) and that the district is feasible [and necessary] and
would benefit the public, the commission by order shall make that
finding and grant the petition. In determining if the project is
feasible [and necessary] and would benefit the public, the
commission shall consider:
(1) the availability of comparable services from other
systems, including special districts, municipalities, and regional
authorities; and
(2) the reasonableness of the proposed public purpose
projects and services.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 375, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 375.0645 to read as follows:
Sec. 375.0645. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. (a) This section
applies only to a district created by order of the commission
providing for an elected board of directors as requested in the
petition requesting creation of the district as provided by Section
375.022(d).
(b) The commission shall appoint the initial directors
under Section 375.026, and subsequent directors are elected in the
manner provided by Subchapter D, Chapter 49, Water Code.
(c) An elected director is entitled to receive fees of
office and reimbursement for actual expenses as provided by Section
49.060, Water Code.
(d) Sections 375.069 and 375.070 do not apply to an elected
director.
(e) Section 49.052(f), Water Code, does not exempt an
elected director from disqualification under that section.
(f) Sections 375.064, 375.161, and 375.243 do not apply to a
district with an elected board.
SECTION 4. Section 375.065, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 375.065. REMOVAL OF DIRECTOR. The governing body of
the municipality after notice and hearing may remove a director
appointed by the municipality for misconduct or failure to carry
out the director's duties on petition by a majority of the remaining
directors.
SECTION 5. Section 375.067(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) As soon as practicable after a director is appointed or
elected as provided by this subchapter, the director shall execute
a $10,000 bond payable to the district and conditioned on the
faithful performance of the director's duties.
SECTION 6. Section 375.068, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 375.068. OFFICERS. After directors are appointed or
elected as provided by this subchapter and have qualified by
executing a bond and taking the oath, they shall organize by
electing a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and any other
officers the board considers necessary.
SECTION 7. Section 375.071, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 375.071. QUORUM. (a) One-half of the serving
directors constitutes a quorum, and a concurrence of a majority of a
quorum of directors is required for any official action of the
district.
(b) If at least two-thirds of the directors execute a
written consent, a majority of a quorum at a board meeting may [The
written consent of at least two-thirds of the directors is required
to] authorize the levy of assessments, the levy of taxes, the
imposition of impact fees, or the issuance of bonds. A director may
execute a written consent outside of a board meeting.
SECTION 8. Section 375.161(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) This section does not apply to a tax or assessment that
is authorized or approved by the voters of the district or to a
required payment for a service provided by the district, including
water and sewer services.
SECTION 9. Section 375.208, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 375.208. COMMISSION APPROVAL. A district may not
issue bonds to provide funding for [must obtain approval of the
commission as provided by Chapter 54, Water Code, if it issues bonds
to provide] water, sewage, or drainage facilities unless the
commission determines that the project is feasible and issues an
order approving the issuance of the bonds in the manner provided by
Section 49.181, Water Code. [Except as expressly provided by this
section and Sections 375.062 and 375.064, a district is not subject
to the jurisdiction of the commission.]
SECTION 10. Section 49.011(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) On receipt by the commission of all required
documentation associated with an application for creation of a
district by the commission under Chapter 36, 50, 51, 54, 55, 58, 65,
or 66 of this code or Chapter 375, Local Government Code, the
commission shall issue a notice indicating that the application is
administratively complete.
SECTION 11. Section 49.060, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a) A director is entitled to receive fees of office [of not
more than $150 a day] for each day the director actually spends
performing the duties of a director. The board by resolution shall
set the fees of office. The board may not set the fees of office at
an amount greater than the amount of the per diem set by the Texas
Ethics Commission for members of the legislature under Section 24a,
Article III, Texas Constitution. In this subsection, "performing
the duties of a director" means substantive performance of the
management or business of the district, including participation in
board and committee meetings and other activities involving the
substantive deliberation of district business and in pertinent
educational programs. The phrase does not include routine or
ministerial activities such as the execution of documents,
self-preparation for meetings, or other activities requiring a
minimal amount of time.
(a-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), an authority
created by special law, by resolution of the board, may not set the
annual limit on the fees of office described by that subsection at
an amount greater than the amount a director would receive for 60
days of service a year at the maximum daily rate authorized by
Subsection (a).
SECTION 12. Section 49.065, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Subsection (b) applies to a personal e-mail address of a
director only if the district does not make available to the public
an official e-mail address for the director or the district. In
this subsection, "personal e-mail address" means an e-mail address
that is not paid for by district money and is not used primarily for
the transaction of official business of the district.
SECTION 13. Section 49.102, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (j) and adding Subsection (k) to read as
follows:
(j) The provisions of this section requiring a confirmation
election do not apply to a [shall not be applicable to any] district
exercising the powers of Chapter 375, Local Government Code, or any
district created by a special Act of the legislature that does not
require a confirmation election.
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, if the board determines
that it is in the best interest of the district and the voters of the
district for the district to administer an election under this
section, the district shall establish precincts and designate
polling locations inside the boundaries of the district.
SECTION 14. Section 49.106, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The board may submit new bond authorization and
refunding bond authorization in a single proposition at an
election.
SECTION 15. Section 49.181, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:
(f-1) For the purposes of evaluating the financial
feasibility of a project financed by a bond, the commission shall
consider:
(1) a district located wholly or partly in Austin,
Brazos, Chambers, Grimes, Liberty, Walker, or Wharton County as if
the district were located in Harris County; and
(2) a district located wholly or partly in Bastrop,
Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Gillespie, Kendall, Lee, or Milam
County as if the district were located in Travis County.
SECTION 16. Section 49.23602(c), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) If the board of a district adopts a combined debt
service, contract, and operation and maintenance tax rate that
exceeds the district's mandatory tax election rate, an election
must be held in accordance with the procedures provided by Sections
26.07(c)-(g), Tax Code, to determine whether to approve the adopted
tax rate. If the adopted tax rate is not approved at the election,
the district's tax rate is the voter-approval tax rate. An election
is not required if the adopted tax rate is less than or equal to the
voter-approval tax rate.
SECTION 17. Subchapter J, Chapter 49, Water Code, is
amended by adding Section 49.316 to read as follows:
Sec. 49.316. DIVISION OF DISTRICT. (a) The board, on its
own motion or on receipt of a petition signed by the owner or owners
of a majority of the assessed value of the real property in the
district, may adopt an order dividing the district.
(b) An order dividing a district may create one or more new
districts and may provide for the continuation of the district.
(c) An order dividing the district shall:
(1) name any new district;
(2) include the metes and bounds description of the
territory of each of the districts;
(3) appoint temporary directors for any new district;
and
(4) provide for the division of assets and liabilities
between the districts.
(d) The board may adopt an order dividing the district
before or after the date the board holds an election to confirm the
district's creation.
(e) The district may be divided only if the district:
(1) has never issued any bonds; and
(2) is not imposing ad valorem taxes.
(f) A new district created by the division of the district
may not, at the time the new district is created, contain any land
outside the area of the district at the time of creation.
(g) On or before the 30th day after the date of adoption of
an order dividing the district, the district shall file the order
with the commission and record the order in the real property
records of each county in which the district is located.
(h) A new district created by the division of the district
shall hold a confirmation and directors' election.
(i) If the creation of a new district is confirmed, the new
district shall provide the election date and results to the
commission.
(j) A new district created by the division of the district
must hold an election as required by this chapter to obtain voter
approval before the district may impose a maintenance tax or issue
bonds payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes.
(k) Municipal consent to the creation of the district and to
the inclusion of land in the district acts as municipal consent to
the creation of any new district created by the division of the
district and to the inclusion of land in the new district.
(l) The district may continue to rely on confirmation,
directors', bond, and tax elections held before the division.
SECTION 18. Subchapter O, Chapter 51, Water Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.7131 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.7131. ALTERNATIVE SUBSTITUTION PROCEDURES.
Notwithstanding this subchapter, a district may substitute land in
the manner provided by Sections 54.739-54.747.
SECTION 19. Section 57.053, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) A vacancy on an appointed board is filled by the
appointment of a director by a majority vote of the commissioners
court. [A director appointed to fill a vacancy must be a person
qualified for election as a director under Section 57.059.] The
commissioners court shall appoint directors so that the board will
always have full membership.
(d) A director appointed to fill a vacancy must be a person
qualified to serve as a director under Section 57.059.
SECTION 20. Section 57.059, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 57.059. QUALIFICATIONS FOR [ELECTED] DIRECTORS. To be
qualified to serve [for election] as a director, a person must:
(1) be at least 18 years old;
(2) own land subject to taxation in the district or be
a qualified voter in the district; [property taxpaying elector of
the precinct and county from which he is elected] and
(3) if the director is elected, be a qualified voter of
the precinct in the district established by the commissioners court
under Section 57.058 from which the director is elected [be
eligible under the constitution and laws of this state to hold the
office to which he is elected].
SECTION 21. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Sections 375.023 and 375.024, Local Government
Code;
(2) Sections 375.025(a) and (b), Local Government
Code;
(3) Section 54.030(b), Water Code, as amended by
Chapter 539 (H.B. 2914), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2019;
(4) Section 54.032(a), Water Code, as amended by
Chapter 539 (H.B. 2914), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2019;
(5) Section 54.033(a), Water Code, as amended by
Chapter 539 (H.B. 2914), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2019; and
(6) Section 54.103, Water Code.
SECTION 22. 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, 2023.