82R11232 TRH-F
	By: McClendon	H.B. No. 3030

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the funding of projects in the boundaries of an
	intermunicipal commuter rail district.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 173.002, Transportation Code, as
	effective April 1, 2011, is amended by adding Subdivision (2-a) to
	read as follows:
	(2-a) "Commuter rail service" means the transportation
	of passengers and baggage by rail between locations in a district.
	SECTION 2.  Sections 173.256(b), (d), and (e),
	Transportation Code, as effective April 1, 2011, are amended to
	read as follows:
	(b)  A district may enter into an interlocal contract with
	one or more [a] local government members [member] for the financing
	of transportation infrastructure that is constructed or that is to
	be constructed in the territory of the local governments
	[government] by the district.
	(d)  The agreement may establish one or more transportation
	infrastructure zones, which may consist of a contiguous or
	noncontiguous geographic area in the territory of one or more local
	governments.  The district and the local government may agree that,
	at one or more specified times, the local government will pay to the
	district an amount that is calculated on the basis of increased ad
	valorem tax collections in a zone that are attributable to
	increased values of property located in the zone resulting from an
	infrastructure project.  The amount may not equal or exceed an
	amount that is equal to [30 percent of] the increase in ad valorem
	tax collections in the zone for the specified period.
	(e)  Money received by the district under this section may be
	used:
	(1)  to provide a local match for the acquisition of
	right-of-way in the territory of the local government; [or]
	(2)  for design, construction, operation, or
	maintenance of transportation facilities in the territory of the
	local government;
	(3)  to pay economic development costs associated with
	district projects, including:
	(A)  a portion of the cost of affordable housing
	in a transportation infrastructure zone; or
	(B)  assistance to a private entity to provide
	affordable housing in the transportation infrastructure zone; or
	(4)  to acquire property rights for underdeveloped
	lands in the transportation infrastructure zone to be preserved for
	the benefit of the public.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter G, Chapter 173, Transportation Code,
	as effective April 1, 2011, is amended by adding Sections 173.305
	and 173.306 to read as follows:
	Sec. 173.305.  TAX INCREMENT FUND FOR TRANSPORTATION
	INFRASTRUCTURE ZONE. The district shall establish a tax increment
	fund.  In addition to the amount of tax increment deposited to the
	tax increment fund, all revenue from the sale of tax increment bonds
	or notes under Section 173.306, revenue from the sale of any
	property acquired as part of a plan adopted to use tax increment
	financing, and other revenue to be used in implementing the plan
	shall be deposited in the tax increment fund for the zone.
	Sec. 173.306.  TAX INCREMENT BONDS AND NOTES ISSUED BY LOCAL
	GOVERNMENT MEMBER. (a) A local government member of a district
	creating a transportation infrastructure zone may issue tax
	increment bonds or notes, including refunding bonds, secured by
	revenue in the local government's tax increment fund.  Proceeds of
	bonds issued under this section may be used to:
	(1)  pay project costs for the zone on behalf of which
	the bonds or notes were issued; or
	(2)  satisfy claims of holders of the bonds or notes.
	(b)  Tax increment bonds and notes are payable, as to both
	principal and interest, solely from the tax increment fund
	established for the transportation infrastructure zone. The local
	government may pledge irrevocably all or part of the fund for
	payment of tax increment bonds or notes. The part of the fund
	pledged in payment may be used only for the payment of the bonds or
	notes or interest on the bonds or notes until the bonds or notes
	have been fully paid. A holder of the bonds or notes or of coupons
	issued on the bonds has a lien against the fund for payment of the
	bonds or notes and interest on the bonds or notes and may protect or
	enforce the lien at law or in equity.
	(c)  A tax increment bond or note is not a general obligation
	of the local government issuing the bond or note. A tax increment
	bond or note does not give rise to a charge against the general
	credit or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable
	except as provided by this section.
	(d)  A local government's obligation to deposit sales and use
	taxes into the tax increment fund is not a general obligation of the
	local government.  An obligation to make payments from sales and
	use taxes does not give rise to a charge against the general credit
	or taxing powers of the local government and is not payable except
	as provided by this section.  A tax increment bond or note issued
	under this section that pledges payments must state the
	restrictions of this section on its face.
	(e)  A tax increment bond or note may not be included in any
	computation of the debt of the issuing local government.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.