Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2685 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9663 JBD-F
2	2	By: Creighton S.B. No. 2685
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to municipal and county consent for the creation of and
10	10	inclusion of territory in certain political subdivisions.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 42.042(b), (f), and (k), Local
13	13	Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
14	14	(b) If the governing body fails or refuses to give its
15	15	consent for the creation of the political subdivision, including a
16	16	[water] district previously created by an act of the legislature,
17	17	not later than the 75th day [on mutually agreeable terms within 90
18	18	days] after the date the governing body receives a written request
19	19	for [the] consent for the creation of the political subdivision, a
20	20	majority of the qualified voters of the area of the proposed
21	21	political subdivision or [and] the owners of at least 50 percent of
22	22	the land in the proposed political subdivision may petition the
23	23	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the creation of the
24	24	political subdivision [governing body to make available to the area
25	25	the water, sanitary sewer services, or both that would be provided
26	26	by the political subdivision].
27	27	(f) [If the municipality fails or refuses to give its
28	28	consent to the creation of the political subdivision, including a
29	29	water district previously created by an act of the legislature, or
30	30	fails or refuses to execute a contract providing for the water or
31	31	sanitary sewer services requested within the time limits prescribed
32	32	by this section, the applicant may petition the Texas Commission on
33	33	Environmental Quality for the creation of the political subdivision
34	34	or the inclusion of the land in a political subdivision.] The Texas
35	35	Commission on Environmental Quality [commission] shall allow
36	36	creation or confirmation of the creation of the political
37	37	subdivision or inclusion of the land in a proposed political
38	38	subdivision for which the commission receives a petition under
39	39	Subsection (b) only on finding that the municipality either does
40	40	not have the reasonable ability to provide water and wastewater
41	41	service adequate to serve the full development of the land from the
42	42	municipality's existing facilities at a reasonable cost to the
43	43	landowner or has failed to make a legally binding commitment with
44	44	sufficient funds available to provide water and wastewater service
45	45	adequate to serve the proposed full development of the land at a
46	46	reasonable cost to the landowner. The commitment must provide that
47	47	the municipality shall commence construction of the facilities
48	48	necessary to serve the land [will begin] within two years and the
49	49	construction will be substantially completed within three and
50	50	one-half [4-1/2] years after the date the petition was filed with
51	51	the municipality.
52	52	(k) This section[, except Subsection (i),] applies only to
53	53	the proposed political subdivision's area located in the
54	54	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality.
55	55	SECTION 2. Sections 54.016(b) and (d), Water Code, are
56	56	amended to read as follows:
57	57	(b) If the governing body of a city fails or refuses to grant
58	58	permission for the inclusion of land within its extraterritorial
59	59	jurisdiction in a district, including a district created by a
60	60	special act of the legislature, within 75 [90] days after receipt of
61	61	a written request, a majority of the electors in the area proposed
62	62	to be included in the district or the owner or owners of 50 percent
63	63	or more of the land to be included may petition the commission for
64	64	the creation of the district or the inclusion of the land in a
65	65	district [governing body of the city and request the city to make
66	66	available to the land the water or sanitary sewer service
67	67	contemplated to be provided by the district].
68	68	(d) [The provisions of this section relating to the method
69	69	of including land in a district without securing the written
70	70	consent of a city applies only to land within the extraterritorial
71	71	jurisdiction of a city and does not apply to land within the
72	72	corporate limits of a city. If the city fails or refuses to grant
73	73	permission for the inclusion of land in a district or to execute a
74	74	mutually agreeable contract providing for the water or sanitary
75	75	sewer service requested within the time limits contained within
76	76	Subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the applicant may petition
77	77	the commission for creation of the district or inclusion of the land
78	78	in a district.] The commission shall allow creation or inclusion of
79	79	the land in a proposed district for which the commission receives a
80	80	petition under Subsection (b) only upon a finding that the city
81	81	either does not have the reasonable ability to provide water and
82	82	wastewater service adequate to serve the full development of the
83	83	land from the city's existing facilities at a reasonable cost to the
84	84	landowner or has failed to make a legally binding commitment with
85	85	sufficient funds available to provide water and wastewater service
86	86	adequate to serve the full [proposed] development of the land at a
87	87	reasonable cost to the landowner. The commitment shall provide
88	88	that the city shall commence construction of the facilities
89	89	necessary to serve the land [shall be commenced] within two years,
90	90	and that the construction shall be substantially complete within
91	91	three and one-half [four and one-half] years from the date the
92	92	petition was filed with the city. Upon any appeal taken to the
93	93	district court from the commission ruling, all parties to the
94	94	commission hearing shall be made parties to the appeal. The court
95	95	shall hear the case within 120 days from the date the appeal is
96	96	filed. If the case is continued or appealed to a higher court
97	97	beyond such 120-day period, the court shall require the appealing
98	98	party in the case of appeal to a higher court or party requesting
99	99	such continuance to post a bond or other adequate security in the
100	100	amount of damages that may be incurred by any party as a result of
101	101	such appeal or delay from the commission action. The amount of the
102	102	bond or other security shall be determined by the court after notice
103	103	and hearing. Upon final disposition, a court may award damages,
104	104	including any damages for delays, attorney's fees, and costs of
105	105	court to the prevailing party. Under no circumstances shall land
106	106	within the corporate limits of a city be included in a district
107	107	without the written consent, by ordinance or resolution, of the
108	108	city. The provisions of this section shall apply whether the land
109	109	is proposed to be included in the district at the time of creation
110	110	of a district or to be included by annexation to a district. A
111	111	district shall not allow the owner of a tract to connect to the
112	112	district's water or wastewater system unless such tract is a
113	113	legally subdivided lot which is part of a recorded subdivision plat
114	114	or is otherwise legally exempt from the subdivision requirements of
115	115	the applicable governmental authority.
116	116	SECTION 3. Section 54.0161, Water Code, is amended by
117	117	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
118	118	follows:
119	119	(c) In passing on a petition subject to this section, the
120	120	commission shall consider the written opinion submitted by the
121	121	county commissioners court. The commission may request additional
122	122	information from the county commissioners court regarding the
123	123	petition.
124	124	(d) The county commissioners court may participate in the
125	125	consideration of the creation of a district before the commission
126	126	only in the manner provided by this section.
127	127	SECTION 4. The following provisions are repealed:
128	128	(1) Sections 42.042(c) and (d), Local Government Code;
129	129	(2) Section 42.0425(c), Local Government Code;
130	130	(3) Section 54.016(c), Water Code; and
131	131	(4) Section 54.0165(c), Water Code.
132	132	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
133	133	a petition for the creation of a political subdivision that is filed
134	134	with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the
135	135	effective date of this Act. A petition pending before the Texas
136	136	Commission on Environmental Quality on the effective date of this
137	137	Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the petition was
138	138	filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
139	139	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
140	140	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
141	141	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
142	142	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
143	143	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.