r=blue>current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content.

H.B. No. 2653

AN ACT

relating
to the use of tax increment financing to pay certain costs associated
with certain transportation or transit projects.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1.  Chapter 311, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 311.01005
to read as follows:

Sec. 311.01005.  COSTS
ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSPORTATION OR TRANSIT PROJECTS.  (a)  
In this section:

(1)  "Bus
rapid transit project" means a mass transportation facility designed
to give preferential treatment to buses on a roadway in order to reduce
bus travel time, improve service reliability, increase the convenience
of users, and increase bus ridership, including:

(A)  a
fixed guideway, high occupancy vehicle lane, bus way, or bus lane;

(B)  a
transit center or station;

(C)  a
maintenance facility; and

(D)  other
real property associated with a bus rapid transit operation.

(2)  "Rail
transportation project" means a passenger rail facility, including:

(A)  tracks;

(B)  a
rail line;

(C)  a
depot;

(D)  a
maintenance facility; and

(E)  other
real property associated with a passenger rail operation.

(b)  This
section does not affect the power of the board of directors of a reinvestment
zone or the governing body of the municipality that creates a reinvestment
zone to enter into an agreement under Section 311.010(b) to dedicate,
pledge, or otherwise provide for the use of revenue in the tax increment
fund to pay the costs of acquiring, constructing, operating, or maintaining
property located in the zone or to acquire or reimburse acquisition
costs of real property outside the zone for right-of-way or easements
necessary to construct public rights-of-way or infrastructure that benefits
the zone.

(c)  An
agreement under Section 311.010(b) may dedicate, pledge, or otherwise
provide for the use of revenue in the tax increment fund to pay the
costs of acquiring land, or the development rights or a conservation
easement in land, located outside the reinvestment zone, if:

(1)  the
zone is or will be served by a rail transportation project or bus rapid
transit project;

(2)  the
land or the development rights or conservation easement in the land
is acquired for the purpose of preserving the land in its natural or
undeveloped condition; and

(3)  the
land is located in the county in which the zone is located.

(d)  The
board of directors of a reinvestment zone, if all of the members of
the board are appointed by the municipality that creates the zone, or
the governing body of the municipality that creates a reinvestment zone
may enter into an agreement described by Subsection (c) only if:

(1)  the
board or the governing body determines that the acquisition of the land,
or the development rights or conservation easement in the land, located
outside the zone benefits or will benefit the zone by facilitating the
preservation of regional open space in order to balance the regional
effects of urban development promoted by the rail transportation project
or bus rapid transit project; and

(2)  the
municipality that creates the reinvestment zone and the county in which
the zone is located pay the same portion of their tax increment into
the tax increment fund for the zone.

(e)  Property
acquired under Subsection (c) may not be acquired through condemnation.

SECTION 2.  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, 2005.

______________________________ ______________________________
    

President
of the Senate Speaker of the House      

I certify that H.B. No. 2653 was passed by the
House on April 19, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 136, Nays 5, 1 present,
not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2653 on May 26, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting.

______________________________

Chief
Clerk of the House   

I certify that H.B. No. 2653 was passed by the Senate, with amendments,
on May 23, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary
of the Senate   

APPROVED:
__________________                 

Date       
         

__________________               

Governor