All Roll Calls
Yes: 235 • No: 67
TexasHB 269289th Legislature Regular SessionHouseWALLET
Relating to the San Antonio River Authority.
Sponsored By: Ryan Guillen, Charles Perry (Republican)
Became Law
SAN ANTONIO RIVER AUTHORITYSAN ANTONIO RIVER CANAL & CONSERVANCY DISTRICTSpecial Districts & Authorities--River AuthoritiesStatutory Revision
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
21 provisions identified: 7 benefits, 2 costs, 12 mixed.
District expansion brings services and tax votes
The River Authority can add land to pollution control districts by resolution or petition, following a public hearing. Petitions generally need owners representing 50% of land value, a majority of residents, or all owners where fewer than three registered voters live. Ordinary expansion requires majority approval in both the existing district and the added area. Voters in the added area must also approve applicable maintenance taxes, existing debt shares, and taxes for approved but unissued bonds. The limited owner-petition route allows temporary expansion, pending a later district-wide vote on expansion and applicable bonds and taxes.
Pollution districts pair improvements with property taxes
The River Authority can create pollution control districts, including areas that do not touch, to fund services and improvements. It must find that district property benefits and publish notice 15 to 30 days before a hearing inside the proposed district. Cities must consent by ordinance to district land within city limits or their nearby planning areas. District voters must approve maintenance taxes, debt, and bond-repayment taxes before those powers are used. Repayment taxes apply only to district property and create liens on that property.
River bond investors receive tax exemption
Bonds issued under this law and their interest are exempt from Texas state and local taxes. The exemption does not cover inheritance taxes. The law does not establish a federal tax exemption.
Four counties elect river authority directors
The 12-member board has two at-large directors per county plus four Bexar County precinct directors. Directors must be at least 21, meet juror qualifications, and live in the authority and the county or precinct represented. Elections occur on November’s uniform election date in odd-numbered years, generally for staggered four-year terms starting January 1. The transition scheduled the 2023 Bexar at-large winners for 2024–2027 and 2024–2025 terms, based on vote totals; its rules expire September 1, 2029. Covered incumbents serving May 23, 2023, remain until successors qualify; the transition applies to appointments or elections from May 24, 2023. The governor fills vacancies for the remaining term with Senate advice and consent. The board appoints director-officers as chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer for two-year terms; it can appoint other officers, set duties and pay, and dismiss non-director assistants at will.
Public contracts face conflict and bidding safeguards
Directors cannot profit from authority transactions; officers, agents, employees, and professional consultants cannot hold interests in authority contracts. Directors also cannot bid on authority contracts. Covered contracts above the Water Code bidding threshold must go to the lowest and best bidder after notices once weekly for two consecutive weeks. Emergency work can bypass bidding to protect public health, welfare, or authority property; specified exclusions and alternative methods also apply. Directors or officers can be suspended or removed for incompetence, misconduct, gross negligence, habitual drunkenness, or six consecutive missed regular meetings. Removal or suspension requires written charges, a fair hearing, and at least eight directors’ votes.
Residents get public access and complaint updates
Authority board meetings must be open to the public, with notices governed by general law and authority bylaws. The board must give people a reasonable chance to speak about matters within its jurisdiction. The authority must maintain a prompt complaint process, keep complaint records, and make its procedures available. Parties must receive updates through final resolution unless notice jeopardizes an investigation.
River authority can support local parks
The authority can acquire park or recreation land next to permanent improvements it builds within its boundaries. It can provide recreation services, secure access routes to recreation areas and wildlife preserves, and contract for park operations. Fish preservation must follow state wildlife rules. The authority can also plant or restore forests, or help with that work, within its boundaries.
River authority manages four counties’ waters
The law establishes the San Antonio River Authority as a public conservation district covering Bexar, Wilson, Karnes, and Goliad Counties. Its boundaries can change under law. It must conserve storm, flood, and unappropriated water for the greatest beneficial use, subject to state oversight and water-use priorities. Existing water rights remain protected, and overlapping Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority powers take priority unless that authority consents. The authority holds state-owned riverbeds and banks in trust and can use or dispose of those interests for its legal purposes.
River authority can develop water facilities
The River Authority can make contracts and build, improve, maintain, and operate facilities needed or useful for its legal work. Water contracts can cover dams, reservoirs, supply lines, purification, pumping, water service, and facility ownership or operation. It can fund surveys alone, jointly, or through others; eligible projects can receive federal construction approval on Congress’s terms. It can also grant concessions or franchises at improvement works, parks, recreation sites, and wildlife preserves. These provisions name no specific project, funding amount, or household charge.
Voter approval required for river property tax
The San Antonio River Authority can charge a uniform property tax capped at $0.02 per $100 of assessed taxable value. Approval requires a majority of votes authority-wide and in at least three counties. Each county must hold a public hearing 10 to 25 days before the election. The tax supports maintenance, administration, planning, and services—not major construction, rights-of-way, specified court-awarded damages, or the law’s revenue bonds. County tax collectors can keep no more than 2% of collections as their fee.
Local projects carry specific funding duties
Covered flood-control and soil-conservation construction costs must use money originating in the county where the project sits. That money cannot come from the authority tax authorized under Subchapter F. Revenue from qualifying Bexar County contracts signed before May 26, 1961, is limited to contract purposes. Reasonable amounts can cover authority overhead, operating costs, and fees for Bexar County directors. The authority must also pay all necessary railroad or street railway alteration costs caused by its use of statutory powers.
Directors get expenses but face limits
Directors cannot vote, deliberate, or count as present until they complete required training. The manager must provide an annual training manual, and directors must sign that they received and reviewed it. Elected or appointed directors receive reimbursement for training travel, even before qualifying for office. Directors can also receive reasonable expense reimbursements and Water Code allowances, but per diem payments cannot exceed 60 days each fiscal year. The Water Code controls any conflict over those allowances.
Partner nonprofits face fundraising safeguards
The board must set fundraising policies for nonprofits that contract or coordinate with the authority. Policies must cover allowed and prohibited activities, oversight, and corporate sponsor selection. Affiliated nonprofits must include the policy in their agreements with the authority. Authority directors cannot hold a majority of an affiliated nonprofit’s board seats, and authority employees cannot serve on that board.
River projects can acquire and flood land
The River Authority can acquire needed property inside or outside its boundaries. Its power to force property sales expired September 1, 2013, unless it filed the required letter by December 31, 2012. The law does not establish whether it filed that letter. Within general-law limits, projects can flood public land or require roads and highways to move. A majority of directors present can approve disposal of property found surplus and no longer useful to authority business. Sales appraised above $5,000, outside exchanges, require notice once weekly for two consecutive weeks; authority property cannot be forcibly sold under a judgment.
River users face rules and enforcement
The board can adopt ordinances by majority vote where the Water Code is inadequate, within its purposes and specified comparable powers. These ordinances take effect after filing in authority records. The authority can regulate pollution, boating, fishing, hunting, camping, and residence on covered waters and land, with reasonable penalties. Penalty rules take effect on the fifth day after newspaper publication once weekly for two consecutive weeks in each affected county. The authority can create a police force to protect its property; ordinance arrests inside or outside its boundaries require a complaint or indictment.
Flood protection includes local floodplain rules
The authority must help prevent flood damage to people and property and can study, map, and regulate floodplains. It can support upstream conservation and flood projects authorized by a state or federal agency with a conservation district. It can arrange operating and maintenance funding under federal agriculture rules and spend reasonable amounts to seek cooperation. The state environmental commission must cooperate on investigations and approve suitable plans as required by law. Federal improvement plans take priority, except for plans about state-permitted water use.
Waterway operators need franchises with limits
The authority can develop navigable waterways and related facilities, including ports, docks, warehouses, and rail connections. Water use for navigation must remain secondary to consumptive uses, such as water supply and irrigation. Covered navigation operators need an authority franchise, which can last no more than 50 years. Franchise rules must ensure adequate service and reasonable, uniform, nondiscriminatory charges, and can include fees and penalties. A district court order is generally required to suspend or revoke a franchise unless otherwise provided.
Sewage and waste services can charge
The authority can provide sewage collection, treatment, disposal, and solid-waste services within the San Antonio River Basin and charge for them. It can contract with counties, cities, and others for these services. In Kerr, Real, or Bandera County, service powers require majority approval from that county’s commissioners court. The authority can also study and control groundwater and surface-water pollution across the basin. It cannot adopt or enforce pollution ordinances in counties outside its boundaries, and the law sets no service rates.
Water supply powers include service charges
The authority can acquire water rights, water, supply facilities, and storage capacity inside or outside its boundaries. It can build and run dams, reservoirs, pipelines, and treatment systems, with bulk water supply as its main focus. It can sell water and charge for delivery and standby service through contracts inside or outside its boundaries. Retail sales must be incidental, serve the public, and not compete with municipal distributors. The law sets no household water rates.
River debt rules protect assets and creditors
Authority debts are payable only from money it receives, including revenues and bond proceeds. It cannot mortgage its property or acquire property under a mortgage or conditional sale; revenue pledges exclude its general property tax. After a covered default lasts the required period, holders of 25% of outstanding principal can request trustee enforcement. Remedies include lawsuits, accelerated repayment, and receivership when bond terms allow; holders of more than half can direct trustee action. The authority can buy back bonds only up to their redemption price, or principal plus accrued interest for nonredeemable bonds. Purchased bonds must be canceled and cannot be reissued.
River projects gain borrowing and grant options
The River Authority can borrow, accept federal or state grants, and use government-backed financing. Revenue bonds need approval from at least eight directors, but no election; service rates and charges can support repayment. Loans payable from the authority’s property tax require prior voter approval of that tax. Covered water, storage, waterway, and certain local-government contracts can also secure bonds. Before board review, the manager must publish notice in each affected county within the authority; contract approval requires a board majority.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Ryan Guillen
House
Charles Perry
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
José Menéndez
Democratic • Senate
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/16/2025
Record vote
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 5/16/2025
Record vote
Yes: 0 • No: 0
House vote • 4/30/2025
Record vote
Yes: 104 • No: 32
House vote • 4/29/2025
Record vote
Yes: 112 • No: 35
Senate vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Yes: 8 • No: 0
House vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Natural Resources
Yes: 11 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Effective immediately
5/29/2025HouseFiled without the Governor's signature
5/29/2025HouseSent to the Governor
5/20/2025HouseSigned in the Senate
5/19/2025SenateSigned in the House
5/19/2025HouseReported enrolled
5/16/2025HouseSenate passage reported
5/16/2025HouseRecord vote
5/16/2025SenatePassed
5/16/2025SenateRead 3rd time
5/16/2025SenateRecord vote
5/16/2025SenateThree day rule suspended
5/16/2025SenateVote recorded in Journal
5/16/2025SenateRead 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
5/16/2025SenateRules suspended-Regular order of business
5/16/2025SenateCo-sponsor authorized
5/16/2025SenatePlaced on intent calendar
5/15/2025SenateCommittee report printed and distributed
5/13/2025SenateRecommended for local & uncontested calendar
5/13/2025SenateReported favorably w/o amendments
5/13/2025SenateVote taken in committee
5/12/2025SenateTestimony taken in committee
5/12/2025SenateConsidered in public hearing
5/12/2025SenateScheduled for public hearing on . . .
5/12/2025SenateReferred to Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs
5/5/2025Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed
Enrolled
House Committee Report
Introduced
Senate Committee Report
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