By: Creighton	S.B. No. 1137

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to improvement projects of the Sabine-Neches Navigation
	District of Jefferson County, Texas; providing authority to issue
	anticipation notes and time warrants.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 1472, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
	Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section 6B to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 6B.  WATERWAY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. (a)  In this
	section:
	(1)  "Improvement project" means the Sabine-Neches
	Waterway Improvement Project.
	(2)  "Project sponsor" has the meaning assigned by the
	Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No.
	113-121).
	(b)  The district is the project sponsor of the existing
	Sabine-Neches Waterway and the improvement project authorized by
	the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No.
	113-121) to improve an existing facility of the district and deepen
	the Sabine-Neches Waterway. The district is also the nonfederal
	cost-sharing sponsor of the improvement project. The commission
	shall make a determination on matters that may be required or
	desirable as a project sponsor to implement the improvement
	project.
	(c)  In the district's capacity as the project sponsor of the
	improvement project, the district is authorized to enter into any
	contract, agreement, including an economic development agreement,
	or lease as necessary or convenient to carry out any of the
	district's powers granted under this section.  A contract,
	agreement, or lease, including any amendments to a contract,
	agreement, or lease, may provide any terms and conditions, and be
	for any term of years, as the commission determines are in the best
	interests of the district.  The contract, agreement, or lease may be
	entered into with any person, political subdivision, or
	governmental agency, including the United States, the secretary of
	the army or the secretary of the army's designees, the Army Corps of
	Engineers, any local government, any county government, any special
	district or authority, any local government corporation, any
	transportation corporation, any tax increment reinvestment zone,
	the State of Texas, any agency of the State of Texas, and any other
	entity. The district is authorized to enter into contracts with a
	private entity to develop or operate any part of the improvement
	project under Chapter 2267, Government Code, and those contracts
	may provide that the private entity:
	(1)  perform all or any part of the district's
	obligations under contracts or agreements with the United States;
	and
	(2)  use revenue or other money from the improvement
	project to prepay for duties or tariffs, including duties or
	tariffs that may not be effective until the improvement project is
	partially or wholly completed, which may be credited against future
	duties or tariffs.
	(d)  The district may enter into a contract, agreement, or
	lease under Section 49.108 or 60.120, Water Code, as determined by
	the commission.
	(e)  The district is not required to obtain approval from the
	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the district's
	contracts or financing related to the improvement project. Any
	contracts or agreements of the district may be renewed or extended,
	and any time warrants or maintenance notes may be refunded in the
	manner provided by general law.
	(f)  The district may provide that payments required by any
	of the district's contracts, agreements, or leases may be payable
	from the sale of notes, taxes, or bonds, or any combination of
	notes, taxes, or bonds, or may be secured by a lien on or a pledge of
	any available funds, including proceeds of the district's
	maintenance tax, and may be payable subject to annual appropriation
	by the district. Sections 26.04, 26.05, 26.07, and 26.012, Tax
	Code, do not apply to maintenance taxes levied and collected for
	payments under a contract, agreement, lease, time warrant, or
	maintenance note issued or executed under this section.
	(g)  The district is authorized to borrow money, receive
	advances of funds, and enter into repayment agreements for the
	repayment of borrowed money or advances, and to issue anticipation
	notes, time warrants, and maintenance notes. The anticipation
	notes may be issued in accordance with Chapter 1431, Government
	Code, in the same manner as an eligible countywide district.  Tax
	anticipation notes issued under this subsection may not exceed 75
	percent of the revenue or taxes anticipated to be collected in that
	year and shall be payable during the district's current fiscal
	year. Time warrants and maintenance notes issued under this
	subsection may be issued to pay for any lawful expenditure of the
	district and shall be payable over a period not to exceed 35 years
	from the date of issuance.
	(h)  The commission shall determine whether the amount of the
	district's maintenance taxes and other available resources
	required to pay the district's existing obligations is also
	sufficient to pay the debt service on any time warrants or
	maintenance notes issued under this section. In evaluating the tax
	rate, the commission may include in the district's budget an
	improvement project fund, which may be funded to assure that
	adequate funds are available to the district to comply with the
	district's covenants and obligations during future years when the
	amounts projected to be needed will exceed the then-current
	available maintenance tax funds.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  The legal notice of the intention to
	introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
	Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
	copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
	officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
	under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
	Government Code.
	(b)  The governor, one of the required recipients, has
	submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
	Environmental Quality.
	(c)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
	its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
	lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
	representatives within the required time.
	(d)  All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
	state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
	to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
	and accomplished.
	SECTION 3.  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, 2015.