Bill Text: TX HB4620 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to procedures for the dissolution of the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-04-09 - Referred to Natural Resources [HB4620 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB4620-Introduced.html
| 87R17176 ANG-F | ||
| By: Canales | H.B. No. 4620 | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| relating to procedures for the dissolution of the Hidalgo County | ||
| Water Improvement District No. 3. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: | ||
| (1) "City" means a municipality described by Section 2 | ||
| of this Act. | ||
| (2) "City commission" means the governing body of the | ||
| city. | ||
| (3) "District" means the Hidalgo County Water | ||
| Improvement District No. 3. | ||
| SECTION 2. DISTRICT AND MUNICIPALITY TO WHICH ACT IS | ||
| APPLICABLE. This Act applies only to: | ||
| (1) the district; and | ||
| (2) a municipality that: | ||
| (A) has a population greater than 100,000; and | ||
| (B) contained on April 1, 2021, within its | ||
| corporate boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction more than | ||
| half of the district's territory. | ||
| SECTION 3. TRANSFER OF ASSETS AND DISSOLUTION OF DISTRICT. | ||
| (a) On the date the city commission passes an ordinance accepting | ||
| the assets, debts, and contractual rights and obligations of the | ||
| district: | ||
| (1) all assets, debts, and contractual rights and | ||
| obligations of the district are property of the city; and | ||
| (2) the district is dissolved. | ||
| (b) The ordinance must contain provisions that: | ||
| (1) eliminate the required payment of any flat tax or | ||
| assessments paid to the district by landowners in the district; | ||
| (2) ensure that all water rights are held in trust by | ||
| the city for the uses previously adjudicated; | ||
| (3) ensure that all individual water users are | ||
| entitled to continue to use or have access to the same amount of | ||
| water they were entitled to before the dissolution of the district; | ||
| (4) require the city to perform all the functions of | ||
| the district, including the provision of services; and | ||
| (5) ensure delivery of water to landowners at or below | ||
| the lowest comparable delivery charge imposed by any other | ||
| irrigation district in Hidalgo County. | ||
| (c) On the date of the dissolution of the district, and | ||
| notwithstanding Section 51.790, Water Code, ownership of any | ||
| certificate of adjudication held by the district, including any | ||
| attachments or amendments to the certificate, transfers to the | ||
| city. | ||
| (d) The city shall notify the Texas Commission on | ||
| Environmental Quality of the dissolution of the district and the | ||
| transfer of any certificate of adjudication held by the district to | ||
| the city. | ||
| (e) On receipt of notice under Subsection (d) of this | ||
| section, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall note | ||
| in its records that a certificate of adjudication transferred under | ||
| Subsection (c) of this section is owned by the city. The Texas | ||
| Commission on Environmental Quality shall, as a ministerial act, | ||
| transfer the certificate to the city without further application, | ||
| notice, or hearing. A person, party, or entity does not have any | ||
| right of protest, objection, or administrative review of the | ||
| transfer prescribed by this Act. | ||
| (f) The transfer of the district's water rights and any | ||
| certificate of adjudication to the city does not affect or impair | ||
| the priority, extent, validity, or purpose of the water rights or | ||
| certificate. | ||
| SECTION 4. TRANSFER OF ASSETS. On or before the effective | ||
| date of the dissolution of the district, the district shall: | ||
| (1) provide the district's management and operational | ||
| records to the city; | ||
| (2) transfer to the city the ownership of any water | ||
| rights and certificates of adjudication; | ||
| (3) transfer the assets, debts, and contractual rights | ||
| and obligations of the district to the city; and | ||
| (4) provide notice and make recordings of the | ||
| transfers under this section as required by the Water Code and other | ||
| law. | ||
| SECTION 5. CITY CONSENT. (a) Without the consent of a | ||
| majority of the members of a city commission that provides notice | ||
| under Section 3 of this Act, the district may not: | ||
| (1) sell, transfer, or encumber any district asset; | ||
| (2) issue debt or acquire additional obligations; or | ||
| (3) default on or fail to honor financial, legal, or | ||
| other obligations of the district. | ||
| (b) Unless a majority of the members of a city commission | ||
| that provides notice under Section 3 of this Act agree otherwise, | ||
| the district shall: | ||
| (1) maintain assets of the district in an appropriate | ||
| condition reflective of good stewardship and proper repair; and | ||
| (2) preserve district records, including information | ||
| maintained by the district in electronic format. | ||
| (c) Any action undertaken by the district that does not | ||
| comply with Subsection (a) of this section is void. | ||
| (d) This section expires on the date that a city has | ||
| provided notice under Section 3 of this Act. | ||
| SECTION 6. EXPIRATION. This Act expires January 1, 2026. | ||
| SECTION 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 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, 2021. | ||
