By: Creighton  S.B. No. 1137
         (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2015; March 17, 2015, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water, and
  Rural Affairs; April 1, 2015, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 1, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
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.
 
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