Bill Text: TX HB1869 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the definition of debt for the purposes of calculating certain ad valorem tax rates of a taxing unit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/21 [HB1869 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1869-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Relating to the definition of debt for the purposes of calculating certain ad valorem tax rates of a taxing unit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/21 [HB1869 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1869-Engrossed.html
By: Burrows, Bonnen, Middleton, Tinderholt, | H.B. No. 1869 | |
et al. |
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relating to the definition of debt for the purposes of calculating | ||
certain ad valorem tax rates of a taxing unit. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 26.012, Tax Code, is amended by amending | ||
Subdivision (7) and adding Subdivisions (9), (18-a), and (18-b) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(7) "Debt" means: | ||
(A) a bond, warrant, certificate of obligation, | ||
or other evidence of indebtedness owed by a taxing unit that: | ||
(i) is payable [ |
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in installments over a period of more than one year, not budgeted | ||
for payment from maintenance and operations funds, and secured by a | ||
pledge of property taxes; and | ||
(ii) meets one of the following | ||
requirements: | ||
(a) has been approved at an election; | ||
(b) includes self-supporting debt; | ||
(c) evidences a loan under a state or | ||
federal financial assistance program; | ||
(d) is issued for designated | ||
infrastructure; | ||
(e) is a refunding bond; | ||
(f) is issued in response to an | ||
emergency under Section 1431.015, Government Code; | ||
(g) is issued for renovating, | ||
improving, or equipping existing buildings or facilities; | ||
(h) is issued for vehicles or | ||
equipment; or | ||
(i) is issued for a project under | ||
Chapter 311, Tax Code, or Chapter 222, Transportation Code, that is | ||
located in a reinvestment zone created under one of those | ||
chapters;[ |
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(B) a payment made under contract to secure | ||
indebtedness of a similar nature issued by another political | ||
subdivision on behalf of the taxing unit. | ||
(9) "Designated infrastructure" means: | ||
(A) infrastructure, including a facility, | ||
equipment, rights-of-way, or land, for the following purposes: | ||
(i) streets, roads, highways, bridges, | ||
sidewalks, parks, landfills, parking structures, or airports; | ||
(ii) telecommunications, wireless | ||
communications, information technology systems, applications, | ||
hardware, or software; | ||
(iii) cybersecurity; | ||
(iv) as part of any utility system, water | ||
supply project, water plant, wastewater plant, water and wastewater | ||
distribution or conveyance facility, wharf, dock, or flood control | ||
and drainage project; | ||
(v) police stations, fire stations, or | ||
other public safety facilities, jails, juvenile detention | ||
facilities, or judicial facilities, and any facilities that are | ||
physically attached to the facilities described by this | ||
subparagraph; | ||
(vi) as part of any school district; or | ||
(vii) as part of any hospital district | ||
created by general or special law that includes a teaching | ||
hospital; | ||
(B) emergency vehicles for police, fire, or | ||
emergency medical services; | ||
(C) maintenance vehicles; or | ||
(D) heavy equipment or machinery. | ||
(18-a) "Refunding bond" means a bond or other | ||
obligation issued for refunding or refinancing purposes under | ||
Chapter 1207 or 1371, Government Code. | ||
(18-b) "Self-supporting debt" means the portion of a | ||
bond, warrant, certificate of obligation, or other evidence of | ||
indebtedness described by Subdivision (7)(A)(i) designated by the | ||
governing body of a political subdivision as being repaid from a | ||
source other than property taxes. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 26, Tax Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 26.014 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 26.014. DEBT FOR CERTAIN TAXING UNITS. (a) This | ||
section applies only to: | ||
(1) a county with a population of at least 1.7 million | ||
that contains a municipality in which at least 75 percent of the | ||
county's population resides; | ||
(2) a county with a population of more than one million | ||
and less than 1.5 million; | ||
(3) a county with a population of more than 800,000 and | ||
less than 1 million; | ||
(4) a county with a population of more than 64,750 and | ||
less than 65,000; | ||
(5) a county with a population of more than 40,000 and | ||
less than 41,000; | ||
(6) a county with a population of more than 30,500 and | ||
less than 32,250; | ||
(7) a county with a population of more than 320,000 and | ||
less than 400,000 that: | ||
(A) does not border the United Mexican States; | ||
and | ||
(B) in which a port authority is authorized to | ||
issue permits for oversize or overweight vehicles under Chapter | ||
623, Transportation Code; | ||
(8) a municipality with a population of more than | ||
150,000 and less than 200,000 that is partially located in a county | ||
with a population of 1.8 million or more; and | ||
(9) a taxing unit any part of which is located in a | ||
county to which this section applies. | ||
(b) In this chapter, "debt" means a bond, warrant, | ||
certificate of obligation, or other evidence of indebtedness owed | ||
by a taxing unit that is payable solely from property taxes in | ||
installments over a period of more than one year, not budgeted for | ||
payment from maintenance and operations funds, and secured by a | ||
pledge of property taxes, or a payment made under contract to secure | ||
indebtedness of a similar nature issued by another political | ||
subdivision on behalf of the taxing unit. | ||
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
a bond, warrant, certificate of obligation, or other evidence of | ||
indebtedness for which the ordinance, order, or resolution | ||
authorizing the issuance is adopted by the governing body of a | ||
taxing unit on or after the effective date of this Act and for which | ||
the taxing unit has not entered into a binding agreement before the | ||
effective date of this Act that contemplates the issuance of the | ||
debt. The changes in law made by this Act do not apply to a bond, | ||
warrant, certificate of obligation, or other evidence of | ||
indebtedness for which the ordinance, order, or resolution | ||
authorizing the issuance was adopted by the governing body of a | ||
taxing unit before the effective date of this Act or for which the | ||
taxing unit has entered into a binding agreement before the | ||
effective date of this Act that contemplates the issuance of such | ||
debt, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
For the purposes of this section, "binding agreement" includes a | ||
development agreement, ordinance, order, or resolution that | ||
authorizes or delegates to an appropriate officer of a taxing unit | ||
the execution of a binding agreement at a later date. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |