Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.001. SHORT TITLE.
This chapter may be cited as the Housing Cooperation Law.
HOUSING COOPERATION AMONG MUNICIPALITIES, COUNTIES, AND CERTAIN OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code ch. 393
in effectTex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.002. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PURPOSE.
(a) The legislature has found in the Housing Authorities Law (Chapter 392 ) that:
(1) unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions exist in this state for persons of low income;
(2) there is a shortage of safe and sanitary dwellings for those persons;
(3) those conditions require excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection, and other public services and facilities; and
(4) the public interest requires the remedying of those conditions.
(b) The legislature finds and declares that:
(1) the assistance provided under this chapter to remedy the conditions described in the Housing Authorities Law constitutes a public purpose and an essential governmental function for which public money may be spent and other aid given;
(2) it is a proper public purpose for a public body to aid a housing authority that operates within the boundaries or jurisdiction of the public body or to aid a housing project within its boundaries or jurisdiction because the public body derives immediate benefits and advantages from the authority or project; and
(3) this chapter is necessary in the public interest.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.003. DEFINITIONS.
In this chapter:
(1) "Federal government" includes the United States, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or any other agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States.
(2) "Governing body" means the council, commissioners court, board, or other body that is in charge of the fiscal affairs of a public body.
(3) "Housing authority" means an authority created under the Housing Authorities Law (Chapter 392 ).
(4) "Housing project" means a work or other undertaking of a housing authority in accordance with the Housing Authorities Law or any similar work or other undertaking of the federal government.
(5) "Public body" means a municipality or municipal corporation, county, commission, district, authority, or other subdivision or public body of the state.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.004. POWERS OF PUBLIC BODY RELATING TO HOUSING PROJECTS.
To aid and cooperate in the planning, undertaking, construction, or operation of a housing project located within its jurisdiction, a public body may, on terms established by the public body:
(1) dedicate, sell, convey, or lease any of its property to a housing authority or to the federal government;
(2) provide that parks, playgrounds, other recreational facilities, community facilities, educational facilities, water facilities, sewer facilities, or drainage facilities, or other works that it has the power to undertake, be furnished adjacent to or in connection with a housing project;
(3) furnish, dedicate, close, pave, install, grade, or plan streets, roads, alleys, sidewalks, or other places that it has the power to undertake;
(4) plan or zone any part of the public body and, in the case of a municipality, change its map;
(5) make exceptions to building regulations or ordinances;
(6) enter agreements for any period with a housing authority or the federal government relating to action to be taken by the public body under the powers granted by this chapter;
(7) enter agreements relating to the exercise of power by the public body relating to the repair, elimination, or closing of unsafe, unsanitary, or unfit dwellings;
(8) provide for the furnishing of services to a housing authority of the type the public body has power to furnish;
(9) purchase or invest in bonds issued by a housing authority;
(10) exercise the rights of a bondholder in relation to any bonds purchased under Subdivision (9); or
(11) take other action necessary or convenient to aid and cooperate in the planning, undertaking, construction, or operation of a housing project.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.005. RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN HOUSING PROJECT CHANGES.
A public body may not require changes to be made with respect to a housing project that a housing authority has acquired or taken over from the federal government and that the housing authority by resolution has found and declared to have been constructed in a manner that promotes the public interest and affords the necessary safety, sanitation, and other protection. The public body may not require changes to be made in the manner of the construction of the project and may not take other action relating to that construction.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.006. PAYMENT OF EXPENSES; CONVEYANCE POWERS.
(a) A public body may incur the entire expense of any public improvement made by the public body in exercising powers under this chapter.
(b) A public body may sell, convey, lease, or make an agreement under this chapter without appraisal, public notice, advertisement, or public bidding.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.007. PAYMENT CONTRACTS.
(a) In connection with a housing project located wholly or partly within its jurisdiction, a public body may contract with a housing authority or with the federal government relating to any amounts that the housing authority or the federal government agrees to pay to the public body during the contract period for the improvements, services, and facilities furnished by the public body for the benefit of the housing project. The amount of those payments may not exceed the estimated cost to the public body of the improvements, services, or facilities.
(b) The absence of a contract for those payments does not relieve the public body from the duty to furnish for the benefit of the housing project the customary improvements and any services and facilities that the public body usually furnishes without a service fee.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.008. LOANS TO HOUSING AUTHORITY.
(a) When a housing authority that is created for a municipality becomes operative, the governing body of the municipality shall immediately estimate the amount necessary for the administrative expenses and overhead of the housing authority during its first year of operation. The governing body shall appropriate that amount to the authority from money in the municipal treasury that is not appropriated for other purposes. The governing body shall pay that amount to the housing authority as a loan.
(b) Any municipality located wholly or partly within the area of operation of a housing authority may lend or agree to lend money to the housing authority at any time.
(c) The housing authority shall repay loans made to it under this section when it has money available for repayment.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.009. POWERS AUTHORIZED BY RESOLUTION.
(a) The exercise by a public body of the powers granted under this chapter may be authorized by a resolution of its governing body adopted by a majority of the members of the governing body who are present at a meeting. The resolution may be adopted at the meeting at which it is introduced, and the resolution takes effect immediately. However, the exercise of the powers is subject to the conditions prescribed by Section 393.010 .
(b) The resolution is not required to be laid over, published, or posted.
Tex. LOC. GOV'T Code § 393.010. NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACTION; PETITION; ELECTION.
(a) An action authorized by this chapter may not be consummated until the governing body of the public body gives notice of its intention to enter into a cooperation agreement with a housing authority. A copy of the notice must be published at least twice in the officially designated newspaper, if any, of the public body. The notice must state that at the expiration of 60 days the governing body will consider the question of whether to enter into a cooperation agreement.
(b) If, during the 60-day period, a petition signed by at least 2,000 of the qualified voters of the public body or by at least five percent of the qualified voters of the public body is presented to the governing body requesting that an election be held on the question, and if the petition is determined to have been signed by the requisite number of qualified voters, the governing body shall order an election to be held in the public body on the question. Two weeks' notice of the election must be given in the manner required by law for elections on the question of issuing tax-supported bonds. If a majority of the votes received in the election favor the cooperation agreement, the governing body shall execute the agreement.
(c) The governing body may also order such an election on its own motion. If a majority of the votes received in the election favor the cooperation agreement, the governing body may execute the agreement.
(d) If the governing body fails or refuses to give notice of its intention to enter a cooperation agreement with a housing authority or fails or refuses to submit the question to an election as provided by Subsection (c), then, on filing of a petition demanding an election and signed by at least 2,000 of the qualified voters of the public body or by at least five percent of the qualified voters of the public body, the governing body shall order an election to be held in the public body for the purpose of submitting a proposition for the approval of the cooperation agreement. If a majority of the votes received in the election favor the cooperation agreement, the governing body may execute the cooperation agreement.
(e) The laws relating to elections for the issuance of municipal or county bonds as prescribed by Chapter 1251 , Government Code, apply to an election covered by this section unless those laws are inconsistent with this section or are superseded by the Election Code.