SB3037

The district may finance water, wastewater, drainage, roads, recreation and other authorized improvements and services. It may contract with public or private entities, create a supporting nonprofit corporation, arrange paid law-enforcement services, own or operate parking facilities, and use economic-development programs, including loans, grants, personnel and services. Its services must supplement, not replace, the City of San Marcos’s existing service level. Eligibility for tax-increment or tax-abatement zones does not itself create such a zone or grant an abatement. Final law, sections 4012.0103–.0107 and .0301–.0308.

A five-member elected board serves staggered four-year terms. The law names the initial directors—Kevin Pogue, Doug Botts, Adam Van Ackeren, John Gurasich and James Schellhase—with the first three initial terms ending June 1, 2027 and the other two June 1, 2029. Directors may receive fees and actual-expense reimbursement under the incorporated Water Code rules. Final law, sections 4012.0201–.0203.

Property taxes require voter approval. The board sets an operating-and-maintenance tax rate within the rate approved at the election. Tax-backed bonds also require an election and a continuing annual debt-service property tax without a statutory rate or amount limit while those bonds remain outstanding. Bonds backed by other revenue or qualifying contract payments can be issued without a bond election, subject to the referenced contract requirements. The act’s municipal-consent requirement applies to the first issuance of property-tax-backed bonds, not to every financing transaction. Final law, sections 4012.0501–.0506.

To finance a service or improvement through assessments, the board needs a petition signed by owners of a majority of the assessed value of assessable real property—not a majority of individual residents. Assessments can apply to all or part of the district. They and related charges become personal liabilities and liens against assessed property; the act’s special lien priority does not extend over county, school-district or municipal property-tax liens. The act otherwise incorporates the municipal-management-district law, including its assessment procedures and applicable exemptions. Final law, sections 4012.0107 and .0401–.0402.

Land may be added or excluded under the referenced Water Code procedures. Division into new districts is allowed only while there is no outstanding bonded debt and no property tax being imposed; new districts initially must stay within the act’s original territory. The division order must be filed with TCEQ and recorded in county land records within 30 days. The board may dissolve the district, and qualifying owners can require dissolution through a two-thirds assessed-value or eligible-surface-area petition, but outstanding bonds, unpaid contractual obligations and responsibility for public facilities must first be addressed as the act specifies. Final law, sections 4012.0309–.0310 and .0901.

The initial territory is the ten tract descriptions in section 2, including the 183.81-acre exclusion from the first tract. These legal boundaries, rather than the neighborhood name alone, determine the original coverage. The act preserves district validity despite mistakes in the field notes; this briefing is not an address-level boundary determination. Final law, section 2 and section 4012.0105.

All five posted versions have identical operative provisions, including the boundary descriptions. No floor amendments or conference report are listed. The eminent-domain provision printed in section 1 depended on a two-thirds vote in both chambers. The House passed the bill 71–47, with one member present but not voting, so that provision never took effect; section 4(b)’s express prohibition did. This was a vote-triggered condition in the bill, not a later floor amendment. All versions; Introduced bill; Amendment index; Final law, sections 4–5 and vote certificates; Official effective-date explanation.

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

Property owners, residents and businesses may benefit from financed infrastructure and services, while affected owners can face assessments, fees or voter-authorized property taxes and debt-service obligations. The act authorizes financing; it does not prove any particular project, tax rate, bond sale or benefit has occurred. The incorporated residential exemption is not absolute: the existing law permits taxes or assessments when a district tax is authorized or approved by voters, and payment for services such as water or sewer remains possible. Final law; 2023 residential-exemption amendment, section 8.

The sole posted fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal impact, assuming costs fit existing resources, and no fiscal effect on other local governments. It cannot determine the district’s costs because future financing and charges were unknown. Its reference to possible eminent-domain activity describes the introduced proposal’s contingent power, not the prohibition that became operative after the final vote. The note does not estimate any individual property owner’s bill. May 2 fiscal note; Final law, section 4.