Bill Text: TX HB5311 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Relating to the creation and operation of a development zone by and the tax revenue received by The Woodlands Township; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments and taxes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-09 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB5311 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB5311-Introduced.html

---

88R11987 MCF-F
By: Toth H.B. No. 5311

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation and operation of a development zone by and
the tax revenue received by The Woodlands Township; providing
authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments
and taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7, Chapter 289, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended by adding Subsection
(gg) to read as follows:
(gg) The district shall be treated the same in all respects
as an incorporated municipality for the purposes of Section
183.051, Tax Code.
SECTION 2. Section 11C, Chapter 289, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended by amending
Subsections (b), (f), (l), (p), and (q) and adding Subsections
(b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
(b) The board, on its own motion or on receipt of a petition
signed by the owners of all real property in a defined area of the
district, by resolution may create, designate, describe, assign a
name to, and appoint the governing body for a development zone in
the district:
(1) to promote initial development or substantial
redevelopment of the area; or
(2) if the area to be designated as the development
zone is composed solely of one or more hotels, to undertake one or
more projects to provide supplemental advertising, promotion, or
business recruitment services for the area to increase hotel
activity[, if the board finds that the creation of the zone will
further the public purposes of:
[(1) the development and diversification of the
economy of the district and the state;
[(2) the elimination of unemployment or
underemployment in the district and the state;
[(3) the development or expansion of transportation or
commerce in the district and the state; or
[(4) the promotion and stimulation of business,
commercial, and economic activity in the district and the state].
(b-1) The board may create a development zone under
Subsection (b) of this section if the board finds that the creation
of the zone will further the public purposes of:
(1) the development and diversification of the economy
of the district and the state;
(2) the elimination of unemployment or
underemployment in the district and the state;
(3) the development or expansion of transportation or
commerce in the district and the state; or
(4) the promotion and stimulation of business,
commercial, and economic activity in the district and the state.
(b-2) A development zone composed solely of one or more
hotels may fund or provide services for the purposes for which the
zone was created.
(f) A resolution designating an area as a development zone
must:
(1) describe the boundaries of the zone sufficiently
to identify with reasonable certainty the territory included;
(2) provide an effective date for the creation of the
zone;
(3) provide a date for termination of the zone;
(4) assign a name to the zone for identification;
(5) adopt a preliminary financing plan for the zone;
(6) establish a tax increment fund or project fund for
the zone; and
(7) appoint the governing body for the zone or
authorize the board to serve ex officio as the governing body of the
zone.
(l) The board and the governing body each may enter into an
agreement considered necessary or convenient to implement a project
plan and development zone financing plan and achieve their
purposes, including, for a development zone composed solely of one
or more hotels, an agreement with a convention and visitors bureau
within or adjacent to the district. An agreement may provide for
the regulation or restriction of the use of land by imposing
conditions, restrictions, or covenants that run with the land. An
agreement may dedicate revenue from the tax increment fund or
project fund to pay project costs and may provide that a restriction
adopted by the governing body continues in effect after the
termination of the development zone. The district and the
development zone may agree that the district will provide
administration, management, investment, accounting, and other
services for the zone in consideration for the benefits received by
the district through the implementation of the project plan for the
zone.
(p) Sections 311.002 and 311.014 through 311.017, Tax Code,
apply to the district, except that for purposes of this subsection:
(1) a reference in those sections to a municipality
means the district and the development zone;
(2) a reference in those sections to an ordinance
means an order;
(3) a reference in those sections to a reinvestment
zone means a development zone;
(4) a reference in those sections to an agreement made
under Subsection (b), Section 311.010, Tax Code, means an agreement
made under Subsection (l) of this section;
(5) "development" means initial development;
(6) "redevelopment" means substantial redevelopment;
(7) Section 311.016, Tax Code, applies only if ad
valorem taxes are used, in whole or in part, in payment of project
costs of a development zone; [and]
(8) a development zone created without a duration or
date of termination may be dissolved by a two-thirds vote of the
board of directors of the district or of the governing body of a
municipality or other form of local government, other than the
development zone, succeeding to the principal assets, powers,
functions, and liabilities of the district, but only if:
(A) the development zone has no outstanding
indebtedness or other obligations; or
(B) the assets, powers, functions, and
liabilities, and any outstanding indebtedness or obligations, of
the development zone are expressly assumed by the district or the
succeeding municipality or local government; and
(9) a development zone composed solely of one or more
hotels must be dissolved by the board of directors of the district
on receipt of a petition for dissolution of the development zone
signed by the owners of at least 60 percent of the assessed value of
the real property in the development zone and the district must
expressly assume the assets, powers, functions, and liabilities,
and any outstanding indebtedness or obligations, of the development
zone.
(q) Upon the creation and organization of a development zone
over the territory of one or more existing development zones, and
upon the imposition or assessment by the governing body of an ad
valorem tax or limited sales and use tax for the development zone,
any [the] existing development zones that impose or assess an ad
valorem or sales and use tax are dissolved and abolished and all
assets, properties, indebtedness, obligations, and liabilities of
the existing development zones transfer to and are assumed by the
newly created and organized development zone.
SECTION 3. Section 7(gg), Chapter 289, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, as added by this Act, applies
only to taxes received on or after October 1, 2023. The comptroller
shall make the first transfer required by that subsection not later
than January 31, 2024.
SECTION 4. (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,
lieutenant governor, and 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 have been
fulfilled and accomplished.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.