HBA-KDB C.S.S.B. 673 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 673
By: Jackson
Land & Resource Management
3/30/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

When the Texas Legislature granted the City of Galveston the right to use
certain state-owned tidelands, the city issued and sold bonds to James
Lyons, a Houston banker, to contract and open the Flagship Hotel on state
property in 1965.  Because the time period of the lease and the right to
use the hotel's property has not been extended, developers may be reluctant
to purchase the Flagship Hotel from the City of Galveston.  C.S.S.B. 673
decreases the minimum population a gulf coast municipality must have to be
eligible to use and occupy gulf tidelands for park purposes, allows such a
municipality to sell certain property, and extends the right to use the
property. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 673 amends the Local Government Code to decrease from 60,000 to
50,000 the minimum population for a municipality that borders on the Gulf
of Mexico to be eligible to use and occupy for park purposes gulf tidelands
and adjacent water. 

The bill authorizes such a gulf coast municipality to sell certain property
if no bonded indebtedness remains outstanding on the property.  If a
municipality sells the property, the bill authorizes the General Land
Office to grant to the purchaser a lease, for not more than 99 years after
the purchase, to use and occupy the state-owned tideland, water, and bed
beneath the property.  The bill also extends, from 75 to 99 years, the
period for which a municipality is authorized to grant a franchise to
operate these properties.  The bill establishes that the right and use of
the property reverts back to the  municipality when the 99 year period
expires or when the property is no longer used for the specific purpose. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.S.B. 673 differs from the original bill by decreasing from 60,000 to
50,000 the minimum population for a municipality that borders the Gulf of
Mexico to be eligible to use and occupy for park purposes gulf tidelands
and adjacent water.