Bill Text: TX HB2819 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to improvement projects of the Sabine-Neches Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas; providing authority to issue anticipation notes and time warrants.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2015-05-28 - Effective immediately [HB2819 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB2819-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 2819

AN ACT
relating to improvement projects of the Sabine-Neches Navigation
District of Jefferson County, Texas; providing authority to issue
anticipation notes and time warrants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 1472, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section 6B to read as
follows:
Sec. 6B. WATERWAY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Improvement project" means the Sabine-Neches
Waterway Improvement Project.
(2) "Project sponsor" has the meaning assigned by the
Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No.
113-121).
(b) The district is the project sponsor of the existing
Sabine-Neches Waterway and the improvement project authorized by
the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No.
113-121) to improve an existing facility of the district and deepen
the Sabine-Neches Waterway. The district is also the nonfederal
cost-sharing sponsor of the improvement project. The commission
shall make a determination on matters that may be required or
desirable as a project sponsor to implement the improvement
project.
(c) In the district's capacity as the project sponsor of the
improvement project, the district is authorized to enter into any
contract, agreement, including an economic development agreement,
or lease as necessary or convenient to carry out any of the
district's powers granted under this section. A contract,
agreement, or lease, including any amendments to a contract,
agreement, or lease, may provide any terms and conditions, and be
for any term of years, as the commission determines are in the best
interests of the district. The contract, agreement, or lease may be
entered into with any person, political subdivision, or
governmental agency, including the United States, the secretary of
the army or the secretary of the army's designees, the Army Corps of
Engineers, any local government, any county government, any special
district or authority, any local government corporation, any
transportation corporation, any tax increment reinvestment zone,
the State of Texas, any agency of the State of Texas, and any other
entity. The district is authorized to enter into contracts with a
private entity to develop or operate any part of the improvement
project under Chapter 2267, Government Code, and those contracts
may provide that the private entity:
(1) perform all or any part of the district's
obligations under contracts or agreements with the United States;
and
(2) use revenue or other money from the improvement
project to prepay for duties or tariffs, including duties or
tariffs that may not be effective until the improvement project is
partially or wholly completed, which may be credited against future
duties or tariffs.
(d) The district may enter into a contract, agreement, or
lease under Section 49.108 or 60.120, Water Code, as determined by
the commission.
(e) The district is not required to obtain approval from the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the district's
contracts or financing related to the improvement project. Any
contracts or agreements of the district may be renewed or extended,
and any time warrants or maintenance notes may be refunded in the
manner provided by general law.
(f) The district may provide that payments required by any
of the district's contracts, agreements, or leases may be payable
from the sale of notes, taxes, or bonds, or any combination of
notes, taxes, or bonds, or may be secured by a lien on or a pledge of
any available funds, including proceeds of the district's
maintenance tax, and may be payable subject to annual appropriation
by the district. Sections 26.04, 26.05, 26.07, and 26.012, Tax
Code, do not apply to maintenance taxes levied and collected for
payments under a contract, agreement, lease, time warrant, or
maintenance note issued or executed under this section.
(g) The district is authorized to borrow money, receive
advances of funds, and enter into repayment agreements for the
repayment of borrowed money or advances, and to issue anticipation
notes, time warrants, and maintenance notes. The anticipation
notes may be issued in accordance with Chapter 1431, Government
Code, in the same manner as an eligible countywide district. Tax
anticipation notes issued under this subsection may not exceed 75
percent of the revenue or taxes anticipated to be collected in that
year and shall be payable during the district's current fiscal
year. Time warrants and maintenance notes issued under this
subsection may be issued to pay for any lawful expenditure of the
district and shall be payable over a period not to exceed 35 years
from the date of issuance.
(h) The commission shall determine whether the amount of the
district's maintenance taxes and other available resources
required to pay the district's existing obligations is also
sufficient to pay the debt service on any time warrants or
maintenance notes issued under this section. In evaluating the tax
rate, the commission may include in the district's budget an
improvement project fund, which may be funded to assure that
adequate funds are available to the district to comply with the
district's covenants and obligations during future years when the
amounts projected to be needed will exceed the then-current
available maintenance tax funds.
SECTION 2. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act 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 Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act 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 this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2819 was passed by the House on May
12, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2819 was passed by the Senate on May
15, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor