S.B. No. 1801
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Galveston County Municipal Utility
District No. 61; providing authority to impose taxes and issue
bonds; granting the power of eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8143 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8143. GALVESTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
NO. 61
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8143.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the board of directors of the
district.
(2) "City" means the City of Texas City, Texas.
(3) "Director" means a member of the board.
(4) "District" means the Galveston County Municipal
Utility District No. 61.
Sec. 8143.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
municipal utility district in Galveston County created under and
essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8143.003. CONFIRMATION ELECTION REQUIRED. The board
shall hold an election to confirm the creation of the district as
provided by Section 49.102, Water Code.
Sec. 8143.004. FINDINGS OF BENEFIT AND PUBLIC PURPOSE.
(a) All land and other property included in the district will
benefit from the improvements and services to be provided by the
district under powers conferred by Section 52, Article III, and
Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
(b) The district is created to accomplish:
(1) the same purposes as a municipal utility district
as provided by Section 54.012, Water Code;
(2) the same purposes as a navigation district created
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and operating
under Chapters 60 and 62, Water Code; and
(3) to the extent authorized by Section 52, Article
III, Texas Constitution, the construction, acquisition,
improvement, maintenance, or operation of macadamized, graveled,
or paved roads or turnpikes, or improvements in aid of those roads
or turnpikes, inside the district.
Sec. 8143.005. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. (a) The
district is initially composed of the territory described by
Section 2 of the Act creating this chapter.
(b) The boundaries and field notes contained in Section 2 of
the Act creating this chapter form a closure. A mistake made in the
field notes or in copying the field notes in the legislative process
does not affect the district's:
(1) organization, existence, or validity;
(2) right to issue any type of bond for the purposes
for which the district is created or to pay the principal of and
interest on a bond;
(3) right to impose or collect an assessment or tax; or
(4) legality or operation.
[Sections 8143.006-8143.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 8143.051. DIRECTORS; TERMS. (a) The district is
governed by a board of five directors.
(b) Except as provided by Section 8143.053, directors serve
staggered four-year terms.
Sec. 8143.052. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. On the uniform
election date in May of each even-numbered year, the appropriate
number of directors shall be elected.
Sec. 8143.053. INITIAL DIRECTORS. (a) The initial board
consists of:
(1) Andy Heard;
(2) Steve Sheldon;
(3) Stephanie Tharpe;
(4) Larry Boudloche; and
(5) Oliver Aldridge.
(b) The terms of the first three directors named in
Subsection (a) expire on the uniform election date in May 2006, and
the terms of the last two directors named in Subsection (a) expire
on the uniform election date in May 2008.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2009.
[Sections 8143.054-8143.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 8143.101. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. The district has
the powers and duties necessary to accomplish the purposes for
which the district is created.
Sec. 8143.102. MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT POWERS AND
DUTIES. The district has the powers and duties provided by the
general law of this state, including Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code,
applicable to municipal utility districts created under Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8143.103. NAVIGATION POWERS. The district may
purchase, construct, acquire, own, operate, maintain, improve, or
extend, inside and outside the district, canals, waterways,
bulkheads, docks, and any other improvements or facilities
necessary or convenient to accomplish the navigation purposes of
the district authorized by Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
Constitution.
Sec. 8143.104. ROAD PROJECTS. (a) The district may
construct, acquire, improve, maintain, or operate macadamized,
graveled, or paved roads or turnpikes, or improvements in aid of
those roads or turnpikes, inside the district.
(b) A road project must meet all applicable construction
standards, zoning and subdivision requirements, and regulatory
ordinances of the municipality or county in whose jurisdiction the
district is located.
(c) The district may not undertake a road project unless
each municipality or county in whose jurisdiction the district is
located consents by ordinance or resolution.
Sec. 8143.105. COMPLIANCE WITH MUNICIPAL CONSENT
ORDINANCES OR RESOLUTIONS. Subject to the limitations of Section
54.016, Water Code, the district shall comply with all applicable
requirements of any ordinance or resolution adopted by the city
council that consents to the creation of the district or to the
inclusion of lands within the district.
Sec. 8143.106. LIMITATION ON USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN. The
district may exercise the power of eminent domain outside the
district only to acquire an easement necessary for underground
water, sewage, or drainage facilities that serve the district.
[Sections 8143.107-8143.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8143.151. ELECTIONS REGARDING TAXES OR BONDS.
(a) Except as provided by Section 8143.201(c), the district may
issue, without an election, bonds and other obligations secured by
revenue or contract payments from any lawful source other than ad
valorem taxation.
(b) The district must hold an election in the manner
provided by Chapters 49 and 54, Water Code, to obtain voter approval
before the district may impose a maintenance tax or issue bonds
payable from ad valorem taxes.
Sec. 8143.152. AD VALOREM TAX. (a) If authorized at an
election held under Section 8143.151, the district may impose an
annual ad valorem tax on taxable property in the district for the
provision of services or for the maintenance and operation of the
district, including the construction, acquisition, maintenance,
and operation of improvements.
(b) The board shall determine the tax rate. The rate may not
exceed the rate approved at the election.
[Sections 8143.153-8143.200 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER E. BONDS AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS
Sec. 8143.201. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS AND OTHER
OBLIGATIONS. (a) The district may issue bonds or other
obligations payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, impact
fees, revenue, grants, or other district money, or any combination
of those sources, to pay for any authorized district purpose.
(b) In exercising the district's borrowing power, the
district may issue a bond or other obligation in the form of a bond,
note, certificate of participation, or other instrument evidencing
a proportionate interest in payments to be made by the district, or
other type of obligation.
(c) The district may not issue bonds to finance projects
authorized by Section 8143.104 unless the issuance is approved by a
vote of a two-thirds majority of the voters of the district voting
at an election called for that purpose.
(d) Bonds or other obligations issued or incurred to finance
projects authorized by Section 8143.104 may not exceed one-fourth
of the assessed value of the real property in the district.
(e) Sections 49.181 and 49.182, Water Code, do not apply to
a project undertaken by the district under Section 8143.104 or to
bonds issued by the district to finance the project.
Sec. 8143.202. TAXES FOR BONDS AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS. At
the time bonds or other obligations payable wholly or partly from ad
valorem taxes are issued:
(1) the board shall impose a continuing direct annual
ad valorem tax, without limit as to rate or amount, for each year
that all or part of the bonds are outstanding; and
(2) the district annually shall impose an ad valorem
tax on all taxable property in the district in an amount sufficient
to:
(A) pay the interest on the bonds or other
obligations as the interest becomes due;
(B) create a sinking fund for the payment of the
principal of the bonds or other obligations when due or the
redemption price at any earlier required redemption date; and
(C) pay the expenses of imposing the taxes.
SECTION 2. The Galveston County Municipal Utility District
No. 61 initially includes all the territory contained in the
following area:
Of 329.9550 acres of land being part of Subdivisions I, J, K, L, M,
N, and O, of the KOHFELDTS RESUBDIVISION according to the map or
plat thereof recorded in Volume 10, Page 35 of the Deed Records of
Galveston County, Texas. Said 329.9550 acres being part of the
tracts of land conveyed by deed dated March 22, 2004 from Kohfeldt
family Limited Partnership, to Texas Gulf Coast Holdings I LP., as
recorded in Galveston County Clerk's File No. GAC 2004020691, of
the Deed Records of Galveston County, Texas. Said 329.9550 acres
being situated in the Thomas W. Johnson Survey, James Haggard
Survey, and the James Smith Survey Galveston County, Texas, and
being more particularly described by metes and bounds as follows;
(Bearings based plat calls of said Kohfeldts Resubdivision)
BEGINNING at a point for corner at the intersection of the north
line of F.M. 1764 with the northeasterly line of the G.H. & H. R.R.
railroad right-of-way adjacent to State Highway 3;
THENCE North 39° 12' 00" West, along the said northeasterly line of
the G.H. & H. R.R. railroad right-of-way, for a distance of 557.48
feet to a to a point for corner;
THENCE North, along the west line of said Haggard Survey, for a
distance of 3,560.62 feet to a to a point for corner in the south
line of 25th Avenue (R.O.W. 120') (also known as Loop 197), said to
a point for corner being the northwest corner of the herein
described tract;
THENCE East, continuing along the south line of 25th Avenue (also
known as Loop 197), for a distance of 5,752.59 feet to the northeast
corner of the herein described tract;
THENCE South, for a distance of 1,095.00 feet to a to a point for
corner;
THENCE West, for a distance of 1,320.00 feet to a to a point for
corner in the common line of the Thomas W. Johnson Survey, and the
James Smith Survey;
THENCE South, along the common line of the Thomas W. Johnson Survey,
and the James Smith Survey, for a distance of 1,155.00 feet to a to a
point for corner;
THENCE West, for a distance of 2,640.00 feet to a to a point for
corner in the east line of the James Haggard Survey;
THENCE South, along the east line of the James Haggard Survey, for a
distance of 1,657.30 feet to a to a point for corner in the north
line of said F.M. 1764;
THENCE South 87° 48' 00" West along the north line of said F.M. 1764,
for a distance of 1,441.31 feet to the PLACE OF BEGINNING of herein
described tract of land and containing within these calls
14,372,838 square feet or 329.9550 acres of land.
SECTION 3. (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 4. 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, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1801 passed the Senate on
May 10, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 24, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1801 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 20, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 139,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor