Austin 2019 Construction Monthly

Bills related to Hurricane Harvey
◊ Unethical contractor practices - Unfortunately, we
have seen many “fly-by-night” contractors take
advantage of homeowners who are stricken with
grief after the damage to, or outright loss of, their
home after Hurricane Harvey. In a homeowner’s
effort to put their life back together as quickly
as possible, they may not take the time or due
diligence to fully vet a contractor prior to putting
down a deposit for services. These bad actor contractors
will then take the deposit and disappear,
leaving the homeowner without any substantial
recourse. We will look to work with elected officials
to strengthen the laws, including increasing
penalties, to prevent this type of unethical business
behavior.
◊ County floodplain regulations - Although a county
does not have the same type of authority as a
municipality, there are still many tools available
for a county to regulate its floodplain. We will
work to educate counties on those existing tools
and provide information into what other counties
are doing to help mitigate flood risk in an effort to
avoid new, and possibly conflicting legislation
Local government employment regulations
◊ We have joined a coalition of other like-minded
business organizations to push back on overreaching
local governments’ employment regulations.
Cities have been increasingly pressured to
expand their regulatory scope and pass local ordinances
regarding private employment practices,
matters that are the jurisdiction of the state and
federal levels. These ordinances create an inconsistent
patchwork of regulations making it challenging
for businesses to operate. Additionally,
these ordinances unfairly impact local businesses,
who cannot afford to comply with the complexity
or cost of these regulations.
Tax reform / school finance
◊ All polls indicate tax reform is still a hot topic
for Texans. Last session, the legislature failed to
pass meaningful (Holly is this Property tax? If so,
please insert property here) tax relief legislation,
so this year they plan to take another look at it.
We expect the legislature will take a more holistic
look at a citizen’s entire tax bill, including city,
county, and school district taxes, as opposed to
just city taxes like they did in the 85th Legislative
session. The House has indicated that school
finance reform is a top priority and acknowledges
that meaningful tax relief cannot be accomplished
without taking school finance into consideration.
MUDs (does this audience know what a MUD is?)
and other special purpose districts
◊ Over the past few sessions, the Governor has
taken a harder look at special purpose districts
across the state. These districts are independent
jurisdictions with the ability to assess fees or
taxes on the people living inside of them. Because
Texas is so diverse, it is difficult to create a “template”
to establish these types of districts through
legislation, but we will continue to work with the
Governor and our Senators and Congressmen in
the Legislature to help refine simplify these tools
so that builders can continue to utilize them to
put important infrastructure on the ground for
their communities.
Workforce and career & technical training
◊ The increasing age of the average age of critical
tradespeople, like plumbers and electricians, requires
us to look toward the youth of our communities
to fill this increasing void. It is imperative
the legislature find ways to incentivize school
districts to continue to expand and support these
critical workforce trades as well as to increase
student interest in these types of well-paying careers
as an option. Important discussions around
this issue will center around liability concerns for
trades coming into schools to teach, opportunities
to provide more specializations and apprenticeships
in the trades, funding for these educational
opportunities, and educating students about their
earning potential in the trades.
In closing, the 2019 Legislative Session will be an
exciting one with many challenges and lots of opportunity
for input. I encourage each of you to make
sure you know how to reach your local representative
to support issues that make housing possible, and
affordable, for everyone.
Article provided by:
Becky Collins
Collins Development
2019 President, HBA of Greater Austin Board of Directors
January 2019
SPECIAL AUSTIN SHOW EDITION 2019 21