Highlights of the 79th Texas Legislature - Senate

TRANSPORTATION
Authorizes cities and counties to purchase real property rights on land outside certain reinvestment zones for a "bus
rapid transit project" or a "rail transportation project."
Authorizes a TIF agreement to include provisions for the use of TIF funds to pay the costs of acquiring land,
development rights, or conservation easements located outside the reinvestment zone if:
• the zone is to be served by a rail transportation project or bus rapid transit project;
• the acquisition is for the purpose of preserving the land in its natural or undeveloped condition; and
• the land is located in the county where the zone is located.
Authorizes 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 to enter
into an agreement only if:
• 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
• 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.
Prohibits property acquired for purposes of this Act from being acquired through condemnation.
Transportation Facilities and Transportation in Texas─H.B. 2702
By Representative Krusee—Senate Sponsor: Senator Staples
H.B. 3588, 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, and H.B. 2, 78th Legislature, Third Called Session, 2003,
addressed issues related to providing the tools necessary for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to
address current transportation needs. This bill:
Amends provisions in the Transportation Code to provide the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) and TxDOT
with additional flexibility to acquire, finance, maintain, manage, operate, own, and control transportation facilities in
Texas.
Allows TTC to grant TxDOT the authority to borrow money from any source to carry out the functions of TxDOT.
Specifies that any money borrowed through the issuance of notes by TxDOT would be considered a state security
and would be subject to approval by the Bond Review Board.
Requires utilities to pay for the cost of relocating their facilities to accommodate a toll project unless the utility has a
property interest or the toll project was in development prior to September 1, 2005.
Authorizes TxDOT, a regional mobility authority, a regional tollway authority, or a county acting under Chapter 284
(Causeways, Bridges, Tunnels, Turnpikes, and Highways In Certain Counties), Transportation Code, to enter into an
agreement for the payment of pass-through tolls to an authority or county, for maintaining a highway or portion of a
state highway transferred to the mobility authority or county and converted to a toll facility.
HIGHLIGHTS - 79 TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE 263