Title WA, Water Code

Sec. 51.426. NOTICE OF VALIDATION SUIT. (a) To obtain jurisdiction of all parties to the validation suit, a general notice shall be published. (b) The notice shall be published once a week for at least two consecutive weeks before the term of the court at which the notice is to b…

Sec. 51.427. DUTIES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL IN VALIDATION SUIT. (a) The attorney general shall examine all the proceedings and shall require any further evidence and make any further examination which he considers advisable. (b) The attorney general then shall file an answer to the s…

Sec. 51.428. JUDGMENT IN VALIDATION SUIT. (a) After the trial of the validation suit, if the judgment of the court is adverse to the district on any issue, the district may make an exception and point out the error, and the error may be corrected by the judge in the manner direct…

Sec. 51.429. EFFECT OF VALIDATION SUIT. (a) After a final judgment is rendered in the validation suit, the bonds or the contract with the United States shall be incontestable. (b) No suit may be brought in any court of this state to contest or enjoin the validity of the creation …

Sec. 51.430. CERTIFIED COPY OF DECREE. (a) After the judgment of the district court is entered, the clerk of the court shall make a certified copy of the decree which shall be filed with the comptroller. The comptroller shall record the decree in the book kept for that purpose. (…

Sec. 51.431. REGISTRATION OF BONDS AND DECREE. On the presentation of the bonds together with a certified copy of the decree of the court, the comptroller shall register the bonds in a book kept for that purpose. The comptroller shall attach to each bond a certificate stating tha…

Sec. 51.432. SALE OF BONDS. (a) After the bonds are issued by the district, the board shall sell the bonds on the best terms and for the best price possible. (b) The board shall pay the proceeds from the sale of the bonds to the district depository. (c) The district may exchange …

Sec. 51.433. TAX LEVY. (a) At the time bonds are voted, the board shall levy a tax on all property inside the district in a sufficient amount to redeem and discharge the bonds at maturity. (b) The board annually shall levy or have assessed and collected taxes on all property insi…

Sec. 51.436. INTEREST AND SINKING FUND. (a) The district shall have an interest and sinking fund which shall include all taxes collected under this chapter. (b) Money in the interest and sinking fund may be used only: (1) to pay principal and interest on the bonds; (2) to defray …

Sec. 51.437. INVESTMENT OF SINKING FUND. (a) The board may invest any portion of the sinking fund of the district in bonds of the United States, the state, any county or city in the state, any irrigation or water improvement district, school district, or other tax bonds issued un…

Sec. 51.438. REFUNDING BONDS. (a) A district may issue bonds to refund all or any part of its outstanding bonds, notes, or other obligations including matured but unpaid interest coupons. (b) Refunding bonds shall mature serially or otherwise not more than 40 years from their dat…

Sec. 51.439. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY TO INCUR DEBT AND ISSUE BONDS. (a) For the benefit of purchasers or holders of bonds to be issued or sold, the board of a district operating under the provisions of Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas Constitution, may limit the authority of…

Sec. 51.440. ISSUING BONDS IN EXCESS OF LIMITATION. (a) A district may issue bonds in excess of a limitation made under Section 51.439 of this code only after the commission has approved the plans and specifications with the estimate of costs. (b) If the plans, specifications, an…

Sec. 51.441. MODIFICATIONS OF IMPROVEMENTS. (a) After bonds are issued or a contract is entered into with the United States, the board may give notice of an election to be held to authorize the issuance of additional bonds or a further contract with the United States. (b) Additio…

Sec. 51.442. ISSUANCE OF ADDITIONAL BONDS OR CREATION OF ADDITIONAL INDEBTEDNESS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. (a) A district may issue additional bonds or create additional indebtedness: (1) if works, improvements, and facilities constructed under a plan provided in Section 51.410 o…

Sec. 51.443. INTERIM BONDS. After bonds, other than preliminary bonds or notes, are voted by a district, the board may declare an existing emergency with relation to money being unavailable to pay for engineering work, purchase of land, rights-of-way, construction sites, construc…

Sec. 51.444. LIMITATIONS ON INTERIM BONDS. (a) Interim bonds shall mature not later than 10 years from the date they are issued and shall be redeemable at any time before they mature, as provided in this subchapter. (b) The principal amount of the interim bonds may not be more th…

Sec. 51.445. ISSUANCE OF BONDS AND LEVY OF TAX. (a) After bonds other than preliminary bonds are voted, the board may authorize the issuance of the bonds in whole or in part as they are needed by the district. (b) The board shall levy and annually assess and collect sufficient ta…

Sec. 51.446. DEPOSIT OF BONDS TO SECURE INTERIM BONDS. (a) As the interim bonds are issued and sold, the board, by order, shall deposit bonds of the district which have been validated by a court or approved by the attorney general and registered by the comptroller as provided in …

Sec. 51.447. PROCEDURE FOR ISSUANCE AND SALE OF INTERIM BONDS. (a) Interim bonds shall be issued in the name of the district, signed by the president, and attested by the secretary, with the district seal attached to each bond. (b) The interim bonds may be issued in the denominat…

Sec. 51.448. PAYMENT OF INTERIM BONDS. (a) The board shall appropriate the tax levied to pay the bonds deposited to the credit of the interest and sinking fund to pay the interim bonds or as much of that tax as necessary to secure the loan evidenced by the interim bonds. (b) The …

Sec. 51.449. REDEMPTION OF INTERIM BONDS. (a) At the option of the board, interim bonds may be redeemed at any time or times before maturity on payment by the district of the principal and accrued interest to the date fixed for redemption by the board. (b) When interim bonds are …

Sec. 51.450. ALTERNATE METHODS FOR PAYING BONDS. (a) As used in this section and in Sections 51.450-51.454 of this code, "net revenue" means income or increment which may come from ownership and operation of the improvements which are encumbered less the proportion of the distric…

Sec. 51.451. TAXES TO SECURE CERTAIN BONDS. (a) If bonds are secured as provided in Section 51.450(b)(3) of this code, at the time that net revenue together with money derived from taxes accumulates a surplus in the sinking fund equal to the amount required in the succeeding year…

Sec. 51.452. ELECTION. (a) If the district proposes to issue bonds which will be secured under either Section 51.450(b)(2) or 51.450(b)(3) of this code, the proposition shall be presented at an election held under Section 51.413 of this code. (b) The ballots for the election shal…

Sec. 51.453. HEARING AND ELECTION ON CERTAIN BONDS. (a) A district which plans to issue bonds payable from and secured by a pledge of net revenue and a lien on the physical property, either or both, without the levy of taxes, is not required to hold a hearing to exclude land or a…

Sec. 51.454. HEARING BEFORE ISSUING CERTAIN BONDS. If a district issues its original bonds under Section 51.450(b)(2) of this code and later desires to issue bonds payable in whole or in part from taxes or to levy a tax for maintenance purposes, the district shall hold a hearing …

Sec. 51.455. ISSUANCE OF REVENUE BONDS TO CONSTRUCT EXTENSIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO CERTAIN SYSTEMS. (a) A district which has adopted a plan for improvements designed to furnish a water and sewer system may also issue its revenue bonds as provided in Section 51.450(b)(2) of this c…

Sec. 51.501. TAX TO PAY PRELIMINARY BONDS. Taxes to pay principal and interest on preliminary bonds shall be levied and collected on the ad valorem basis. Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 349, ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971.

Sec. 51.502. HEARING TO DETERMINE BASIS OF TAXATION. After the board adopts plans for construction of a plant and improvements to accomplish the purposes of the district and after an election is held to authorize the issuance of construction bonds and the levy of a tax to pay for…

Sec. 51.503. NOTICE OF HEARING. Notice of the time and place of the hearing and the proposition to be determined shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers with general circulation in the district. The first publication shall be made not le…

Sec. 51.504. CONDUCT OF HEARING. (a) At the hearing, any person who is a taxpayer in the district may appear and offer testimony to show which plan of taxation will be most conducive to equitable distribution of taxes. (b) The hearing may be adjourned from day to day until all pe…

Sec. 51.505. ORDER. (a) The board shall adopt the plan of taxation which will, in its judgment under the evidence, be most conducive to the equitable distribution of the district's tax. (b) If the plan adopted by the board is made under the provisions of Section 51.512 of this co…

Sec. 51.506. CHANGE TAX PLAN. If after a tax plan is adopted the directors find that the best interest of the district and the necessity to maintain adequately and equitably the district's tax requires a change in the tax plan, the board may give notice, hold a hearing, and deter…

Sec. 51.507. EFFECT OF SECTIONS 51.501-51.506 OF CODE. Nothing in Sections 51.501-51.506 of this code shall be held to alter provisions of this chapter relating to districts which have contracts with the United States or to alter or impair the provisions of this code relating to …

Sec. 51.508. UNLIMITED AUTHORITY TO COLLECT SERVICE CHARGES AND TAXES. The provisions of this subchapter do not alter or impair the right of a district to make, establish, and collect maintenance and operation charges for service rendered; to levy and collect taxes to secure fund…

Sec. 51.509. LIEN CREATED; NO LIMITATION. Charges or assessments imposed by a district for maintenance and operation of works, facilities, and services of the district shall constitute a lien against the land to which the charges or assessments have been established. No law provi…

Sec. 51.510. PURPOSE OF SECTIONS 51.511-51.530 OF CODE. The purpose of Sections 51.511-51.530 of this code is to give a district the flexibility of taxing power which will permit and cause the tax of the district to be equitably distributed and which will give the highest practic…

Sec. 51.511. AUTHORITY TO ADOPT ALTERNATIVE PLANS OF TAXATION. A district operating under the provisions of Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas Constitution, shall adopt a tax plan under the alternative provisions of Sections 51.512-51.530 of this code either at the time of its…

Sec. 51.512. ALTERNATIVE PLANS OF TAXATION. (a) The district's taxes for all purposes, except to pay the cost of preliminary surveys, may be levied, assessed, and collected on an adopted basis to be chosen from the alternatives provided in this section. (b) The district's tax pla…

Sec. 51.513. ADOPTION OF PLAN OF TAXATION. (a) Except as provided in Section 51.512(b)(4) of this code, before the commission of appraisement is appointed and the construction bonds are sold, the board shall adopt a proposed plan of taxation as provided in Sections 51.502-51.505 …

Sec. 51.514. NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF PLAN AND HEARING. (a) After the tax plan is adopted, the board shall publish notice once a week for two consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers with general circulation in the county or counties in which the district is located. (b) The noti…

Sec. 51.515. ORDER ADOPTING TAX PLAN. (a) After all persons have been heard, the board may approve the proposed tax plan or may change or modify the plan. (b) The board shall adopt a tax plan which it considers, under the evidence before it, most equitably distributes the tax bur…

Sec. 51.516. OBTAINING FUNDS TO CONSTRUCT, ADMINISTER, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE IMPROVEMENTS AND FACILITIES IN DEFINED PART OF DISTRICT. On adoption of the plan of taxation provided in Section 51.512(b)(4) of this code, the district, under the limitations of this subchapter, may app…

Sec. 51.517. ADOPTION OF TAX PLAN FOR ONLY PART OF DISTRICT. If a district adopts the tax plan and assumes the powers in Section 51.512(b)(4) of this code, or if required to conserve and protect the public welfare, the district, in the manner provided in Sections 51.518-51.524 of…

Sec. 51.518. DEFINING AREA AND DESIGNATING PROPERTY TO BE BENEFITED BY IMPROVEMENTS; ADOPTING TAX PLAN. (a) The board shall define the particular area to be taxed by metes and bounds or designate the property to be served, affected, and taxed. (b) The board shall adopt a plan for…