By: Isaac (Senate Sponsor - Campbell) H.B. No. 4184
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2015;
  May 18, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Intergovernmental Relations; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by
  the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the Hays County Development District No. 1.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1, Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by amending
  Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
  as follows:
         (a)  The legislature finds that the creation of Hays County
  Development District No. 1 (the "district"), [and] the project
  approved by the Hays County Commissioners Court on January 11, 2000
  (the "project"), and other projects described by Section 5A will
  serve the public purpose of attracting visitors and tourists to
  Hays County and will result in employment and economic activity in
  the manner contemplated by Section 52-a, Article III, Texas
  Constitution, and Chapter 383, Local Government Code.
         (c)  The legislature further finds that the creation and
  operation of the district and the acquisition or financing of the
  project or another project described by Section 5A by the district
  serve the purpose of Section 59, Article XVI, and Section 52,
  Article III, Texas Constitution, and that all steps necessary to
  create the district have been taken.
         (d)  The legislature further finds that the creation and
  continued operation of the district is essential to accomplish the
  purposes of Sections 52 and 52-a, Article III, and Section 59,
  Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and other public purposes stated
  in this Act.
         (e)  A legislative finding made under this Act is conclusive
  and the district is not required to offer proof of the purpose or
  results before exercising a power granted by this Act.
         SECTION 2.  Section 5, Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 5.  POWERS.  (a)  The district has all of the rights,
  powers, privileges, authority, functions, and duties provided by
  Chapters 375 and 383, Local Government Code, to county development
  districts and municipal management districts, and by Chapters 49
  and 54, Water Code, to municipal utility districts.
         (b)  The district's rights, powers, privileges, authority,
  functions, and duties include, [including] but are not limited to:
               (1)  the authority to levy, assess, and collect ad
  valorem taxes for the purposes approved at the elections conducted
  on November 7, 2000, or at an election conducted in the district
  after that date;
               (2)  the authority, after approval by voters at an
  election conducted within the boundaries of the district, to levy,
  assess and collect taxes for maintenance and operating purposes in
  the manner set forth in Sections 49.107(a)-(e), Water Code, and for
  the repayment of bonds, notes, warrants, lease purchase agreements,
  certificates of assessment, certificates of participation in lease
  purchase agreements, and other interest-bearing obligations in the
  manner set forth in Sections 49.106(a)-(d), Water Code, and for all
  of the purposes for which the district may expend funds;
               (3)  to establish, levy, and collect special
  assessments in the manner specified in Sections 375.111-375.124,
  Local Government Code; provided, however, that Sections
  375.161-375.163, Local Government Code, shall not apply to the
  assessments imposed by the district;
               (4)  to utilize funds, whether the funds are derived
  from ad valorem taxes, sales and use taxes, hotel occupancy taxes,
  assessments, revenues from the project, or any other source, for
  payment of projects or services in the manner authorized by
  Section 375.181, Local Government Code, [and] Chapter 383, Local
  Government Code, and Chapter 54, Water Code;
               (5)  to enter into obligations, including, but not
  limited to, lease purchase agreements, certificates of
  participation in lease purchase agreements, general obligation
  bonds and notes and revenue bonds and notes, and combination
  general obligation and revenue bonds and notes and other
  interest-bearing obligations, in the manner specified in Sections
  375.201-375.205 [375.201-375.204], Local Government Code. To
  enter into these obligations, the district shall obtain only those
  approvals required for the issuance of obligations by Hays County
  by Chapter 53, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Second Called Session,
  1987;
               (6)  to adopt and exercise the rights, powers, and
  authority of a road district under Section 52(b)(3), Article III,
  Texas Constitution, in the manner specified in Sections 53.029(c)
  and (d), Water Code;
               (7)  to levy, assess, and collect ad valorem taxes to
  make payments on a contract under Sections 49.108(a)-(d), Water
  Code, after obtaining those approvals specified in Section 1,
  Chapter 778, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995;
               (8)  to exercise all of the rights, powers, and
  authority of a [road district, a municipal management district, and
  a] water control and improvement district which are not
  specifically contradicted by Chapter 383, Local Government Code;
  and
               (9)  to exercise all of the rights, powers, and
  authority granted to the district by this Act, and all of the
  rights, powers, and authority granted to the district by Chapters
  383 and 375, Local Government Code, and to a municipal utility
  district by Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code, which are not contrary
  to [any provisions of] this Act, to finance, construct, or
  otherwise acquire the project, [or] any element of the project, or
  another project described by Section 5A [identified in the
  Commissioners Court Order Upon Hearing and Granting Petition
  Requesting the Creation of Hays County Development District No. 1
  and Appointing Temporary Directors dated January 11, 2000],
  including, but not limited to, a [the] hotel, a [the] golf course,
  [the] water, sewer, drainage, and road improvements, [the]
  organizational costs, and [the] costs of issuance of the
  obligations of the district.
         SECTION 3.  Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
  Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Sections 5A, 5B, and 5C
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 5A.  DISTRICT PROJECTS. (a) The district may provide,
  or it may contract with a governmental or private entity to provide,
  the following types of projects or activities in support of or
  incidental to those projects:
               (1)  the project approved by the Hays County
  Commissioners Court on January 11, 2000, wholly or partly;
               (2)  an improvement project that is a public
  improvement, facility, or service that may be provided by the
  district under the powers granted to the district of a county
  development district, municipal management district, municipal
  utility district, or water control and improvement district,
  including a water, wastewater, reclamation, drainage, road, trail,
  or bridge improvement; or
               (3)  a project, other than the project or an
  improvement project described by Subdivision (2), that is approved
  by the board and that the district is authorized to provide under
  the powers granted to the district by this Act.
         (b)  A project, improvement, facility, or service described
  by Subsection (a)(2) or (3) is not required to have been considered
  for or included in an order issued by the Hays County Commissioners
  Court on January 11, 2000.
         Sec. 5B.  ROAD STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS. (a) A road
  project must meet all applicable construction standards, zoning and
  subdivision requirements, and regulations of each municipality in
  whose corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction the road
  project is located.
         (b)  If a road project is not located in the corporate limits
  or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, the road
  project must meet all applicable construction standards,
  subdivision requirements, and regulations of each county in which
  the road project is located.
         (c)  If the state will maintain and operate the road, the
  Texas Transportation Commission must approve the plans and
  specifications of the road project.
         Sec. 5C.  LIMIT ON EMINENT DOMAIN POWER.  The district may
  not exercise the power of eminent domain outside the district and in
  the corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a
  municipality unless the governing body of the municipality consents
  by ordinance or resolution.
         SECTION 4.  Section 7, Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Subsection
  (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  Section 375.070, Local Government Code, does not apply
  to the district. A director is entitled to receive fees of office
  and reimbursement for actual expenses as provided by Section
  49.060, Water Code, except that:
               (1)  a director is entitled to receive fees of office of
  not more than $200 a day for each day the director actually spends
  performing the duties of a director; and
               (2)  the district may not set the annual limit on the
  fees of office that a director may receive at an amount greater than
  $8,200.
         SECTION 5.  Section 8, Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 8.  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.  [The legislature finds that
  the principal function of the district is to provide for
  development and operation of the project, to facilitate economic
  development, and to attract visitors and tourists, which will
  result in employment and economic activity in Hays County.] The
  legislature finds that the district may provide water and sewer,
  landscaping, road, drainage, and reclamation services to
  residential retail or commercial customers in the district. The
  district is a district described in Section 49.181(h)(4), Water
  Code.
         SECTION 6.  Section 9, Chapter 1503, Acts of the 77th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 9.  ADDITION AND EXCLUSION OF LANDS. (a) Except as
  provided by Subsection (b), in [In] addition to the authority
  granted to the district by Section 383.084, Local Government Code,
  the district may add lands in the manner provided by Section 49.301,
  Water Code, and may exclude lands in the methods provided by
  Sections 49.303 through 49.308, Water Code.
         (b)  Section 42.0425, Local Government Code, applies to the
  annexation of land in the extraterritorial jurisdiction or
  corporate boundaries of a municipality.
         (c)  Land added or annexed under this section is not required
  to be contiguous to the district's territory.
         SECTION 7.  This Act does not affect an agreement between the
  district and a municipality in whose corporate limits or
  extraterritorial jurisdiction the district is located that was
  entered into before the effective date of this Act.  This section
  does not affect the authority of the district and municipality to
  amend such an agreement.
         SECTION 8.  (a) The legislature confirms and validates all
  actions of the Hays County Development District No. 1 that were
  taken before the effective date of this Act, including any
  elections conducted by the district, including any election to
  impose maintenance and operation taxes or to adopt the powers of a
  road district.
         (b)  The Hays County Development District No. 1 is not
  required to repeat an election described by Subsection (a) of this
  section.
         SECTION 9.  (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 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.
         (c)  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 10.  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.
 
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