2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB685

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Official caption: Relating to rates established by municipalities for water or sewer service for certain entities.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Bell, Cecil. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB685 prohibits a municipality from establishing a water or sewer rate that applies only to entities qualifying for a sales-tax or property-tax exemption and is higher than the rate for entities receiving comparable utility service.
This is not a free-water entitlement, a new tax exemption or a requirement that every customer pay the same bill regardless of service.

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What does it do?

HB685 prohibits a municipality from establishing a water or sewer rate that applies only to entities qualifying for a sales-tax or property-tax exemption and is higher than the rate for entities receiving comparable utility service. In plain terms, a city cannot single out that tax-exempt class for a higher rate when the utility service is comparable. The governor signed it June 20, 2025; it took effect September 1, 2025. Final law; history.

This is not a free-water entitlement, a new tax exemption or a requirement that every customer pay the same bill regardless of service. The comparison is for comparable utility service, and the prohibition concerns the specified higher rate applicable only to qualifying tax-exempt entities. The act does not set a statewide dollar rate or create an express refund program for past bills.

What changed along the way?

The introduced, House committee, engrossed, Senate committee and enrolled versions have identical operative language. Both committees reported without amendments and the official amendment index reports none. The tax-exempt-class and comparable-service limits were in the original proposal and remain in the final law. Introduced bill; text versions; amendment index.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Qualifying tax-exempt entities facing the specified higher municipal rate gain protection against that rate treatment. Cities using such a rate may lose revenue or need to revise their rate schedules. Entities already paying a comparable rate may see no change. The act does not quantify savings or specify how a city should replace any lost revenue.

The Legislative Budget Board anticipated no state fiscal implication, but expressly noted possible effects on municipalities that already charge the prohibited higher rates. It did not put a dollar amount on that local impact; “no state cost” should not be read as “no local cost.” Engrossed fiscal note, May 8, 2025.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.