CHAPTER 272. SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY BY MUNICIPALITIES, COUNTIES, AND CERTAIN OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 8. ACQUISITION, SALE, OR LEASE OF PROPERTY
SUBTITLE C. ACQUISITION, SALE, OR LEASE PROVISIONS APPLYING TO
MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 272. SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY BY MUNICIPALITIES,
COUNTIES, AND CERTAIN OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Sec. 272.001. NOTICE OF SALE OR EXCHANGE OF LAND BY POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION; EXCEPTIONS. (a) Except for the types of land and
interests covered by Subsection (b), (g), (h), (i), or (j), and
except as provided by Section 253.008, before land owned by a
political subdivision of the state may be sold or exchanged for
other land, notice to the general public of the offer of the land
for sale or exchange must be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in either the county in which the land is located or,
if there is no such newspaper, in an adjoining county. The notice
must include a description of the land, including its location,
and the procedure by which sealed bids to purchase the land or
offers to exchange the land may be submitted. The notice must be
published on two separate dates and the sale or exchange may not
be made until after the 14th day after the date of the second
publication.
(b) The notice and bidding requirements of Subsection (a) do not
apply to the types of land and real property interests described
by this subsection and owned by a political subdivision. The land
and those interests described by this subsection may not be
conveyed, sold, or exchanged for less than the fair market value
of the land or interest unless the conveyance, sale, or exchange
is with one or more abutting property owners who own the
underlying fee simple. The fair market value is determined by an
appraisal obtained by the political subdivision that owns the
land or interest or, in the case of land or an interest owned by
a home-rule municipality, the fair market value may be determined
by the price obtained by the municipality at a public auction for
which notice to the general public is published in the manner
described by Subsection (a). The notice of the auction must
include, instead of the content required by Subsection (a), a
description of the land, including its location, the date, time,
and location of the auction, and the procedures to be followed at
the auction. The appraisal or public auction price is conclusive
of the fair market value of the land or interest, regardless of
any contrary provision of a home-rule charter. This subsection
applies to:
(1) narrow strips of land, or land that because of its shape,
lack of access to public roads, or small area cannot be used
independently under its current zoning or under applicable
subdivision or other development control ordinances;
(2) streets or alleys, owned in fee or used by easement;
(3) land or a real property interest originally acquired for
streets, rights-of-way, or easements that the political
subdivision chooses to exchange for other land to be used for
streets, rights-of-way, easements, or other public purposes,
including transactions partly for cash;
(4) land that the political subdivision wants to have developed
by contract with an independent foundation;
(5) a real property interest conveyed to a governmental entity
that has the power of eminent domain;
(6) a municipality's land that is located in a reinvestment zone
designated as provided by law and that the municipality desires
to have developed under a project plan adopted by the
municipality for the zone; or
(7) a property interest owned by a defense base development
authority established under Chapter 378, Local Government Code,
as added by Chapter 1221, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1999.
(c) The land or interests described by Subsections (b)(1) and
(2) may be sold to:
(1) abutting property owners in the same subdivision if the land
has been subdivided; or
(2) abutting property owners in proportion to their abutting
ownership, and the division between owners must be made in an
equitable manner.
(d) This section does not require the governing body of a
political subdivision to accept any bid or offer or to complete a
sale or exchange.
(e) This section does not apply to land in the permanent school
fund that is authorized by legislation to be exchanged for other
land of at least equal value.
(f) The fair market value of land, an easement, or other real
property interest in exchange for land, an easement, or other
real property interest as authorized by Subsection (b)(3) is
conclusively determined by an appraisal obtained by the political
subdivision. The cost of any streets, utilities, or other
improvements constructed on the affected land or to be
constructed by an entity other than the political subdivision on
the affected land may be considered in determining that fair
market value.
(g) A political subdivision may acquire or assemble land or real
property interest, except by condemnation, and sell, exchange, or
otherwise convey the land or interests to an entity for the
development of low-income or moderate-income housing. The
political subdivision shall determine the terms and conditions of
the transactions so as to effectuate and maintain the public
purpose. If conveyance of land under this subsection serves a
public purpose, the land may be conveyed for less than its fair
market value. In this subsection, "entity" means an individual,
corporation, partnership, or other legal entity.
(h) A municipality having a population of 575,000 or less and
owning land within 5,000 feet of where the shoreline of a lake
would be if the lake were filled to its storage capacity may,
without notice or the solicitation of bids, sell the land to the
person leasing the land for the fair market value of the land as
determined by a certified appraiser. While land described by this
subsection is under lease, the municipality owning the land may
not sell the land to any person other than the person leasing the
land. To protect the public health, safety, or welfare and to
ensure an adequate municipal water supply, property sold by the
municipality under this subsection is not eligible for and the
owner is not entitled to the exemption provided by Section
11.142(a), Water Code. The instrument conveying property under
this subsection must include a provision stating that the
exemption does not apply to the conveyance. In this subsection,
"lake" means an inland body of standing water, including a
reservoir formed by impounding the water of a river or creek but
not including an impoundment of salt water or brackish water,
that has a storage capacity of more than 10,000 acre-feet.
(i) A political subdivision that acquires land or a real
property interest with funds received for economic development
purposes from the community development block grant
nonentitlement program authorized by Title I of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5301 et
seq.) may lease or convey the land or interest, without the
solicitation of bids, to a private, for-profit entity or a
nonprofit entity that is a party to a contract with the political
subdivision if the land or interest will be used by the private,
for-profit entity or the nonprofit entity in carrying out the
purpose of the entity's grant or contract. The land or interest
may be leased or conveyed without the solicitation of bids if the
political subdivision adopts a resolution stating the conditions
and circumstances for the lease or conveyance and the public
purpose that will be achieved by the lease or conveyance.
(j) A political subdivision may donate, exchange, convey, sell,
or lease land, improvements, or any other interest in real
property to an institution of higher education, as that term is
defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, to promote a public
purpose related to higher education. The political subdivision
shall determine the terms and conditions of the transaction so as
to effectuate and maintain the public purpose. A political
subdivision may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or lease the real
property interest for less than its fair market value and without
complying with the notice and bidding requirements of Subsection
(a).
(k) This section does not apply to sales or exchanges of land
owned by a municipality operating a municipally owned electric or
gas utility if the land is held or managed by the municipally
owned utility, or by a division of the municipally owned electric
or gas utility that constitutes the unbundled electric or gas
operations of the utility, provided that the governing body of
the municipally owned utility shall adopt a resolution stating
the conditions and circumstances for the sale or exchange and the
public purpose that will be achieved by the sale or exchange. For
purposes of this subsection, "municipally owned utility" includes
a river authority engaged in the generation, transmission, or
distribution of electric energy to the public, and "unbundled"
operations are those operations of the utility that have, in the
discretion of the utility's governing body, been functionally
separated.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 63(a), eff. Aug. 28,
1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1243, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1989;
Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 282, Sec. 1, eff. June 6, 1991; Acts
1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 110, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993,
73rd Leg., ch. 206, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd
Leg., ch. 429, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg.,
ch. 509, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch.
948, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76,
Sec. 17.01(40), eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch.
311, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 296,
Sec. 1, eff. May 29, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec.
43, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 451, Sec. 1,
eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 968, Sec. 1, eff.
June 18, 1999; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1121, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.
1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1030, Sec. 1, eff. June 15,
2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 12.109(a), eff. Sept.
1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 12.109(b), eff.
Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 179, Sec. 1, eff. May
29, 2003.
Sec. 272.002. CONVEYANCES BY CERTAIN POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS TO
THE UNITED STATES FOR PURPOSES RELATED TO WATERWAYS. (a) This
section applies to property, including land or an interest in
land, that:
(1) is owned by:
(A) a county having a boundary coinciding with a part of the
international boundary between the United States and Mexico;
(B) a county contiguous to a county described by Paragraph (A);
or
(C) a municipal corporation, political subdivision, or district
organized under the state constitution and statutes and located
in a county described by Paragraph (A) or (B), including a
municipality, independent school district, common school
district, water improvement district, water control and
improvement district, navigation district, road district, levee
district, or drainage district; and
(2) is desired by the United States to enable a department or
establishment of the United States to carry out a federal law in
aid of navigation, flood control, or improvement of water courses
and to accomplish the purposes specified by Section 2204.101,
Government Code, and is necessary for the construction,
operation, and maintenance of works required for those purposes.
(b) On the request of the United States through its proper
officers, an entity described by Subsection (a)(1) may convey
with or without monetary consideration the title or an easement
to the property to the United States or to another entity
described by Subsection (a)(1) that has agreed by resolution of
its governing body to acquire the property for conveyance to the
United States.
(c) All rights conferred by law to the Port of Harlingen
Authority to develop a navigation project and all improvements
incidental, necessary, or convenient for that project are
reserved for the authority. This section does not take away any
right of the authority to dredge, widen, straighten, or otherwise
improve the Arroyo-Colorado and all other lakes, bays, streams,
or bodies of water within, or adjacent or appurtenant to, the
boundaries of the authority as a navigation project or to
construct turning basins, yacht basins, or port facilities.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(24), eff.
Sept. 1, 1995.
Sec. 272.003. RENTAL OF OFFICE SPACE BY COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY
FOR UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF ADMINISTRATION. (a) The commissioners
court of a county or the governing body of a municipality may
lease, rent, or provide office space to aid and cooperate with
state and federal agencies engaged in the administration of
relief to the unemployed or needy people of the state. The
commissioners court or governing body may pay the regular monthly
utility bills for the office space, including bills for
electricity, gas, and water.
(b) If a majority of the commissioners court considers the
office space essential to the proper administration of the state
or federal agency, the court may pay for the space and the
regular monthly utility bills out of the general fund of the
county by warrants as in the payment of other obligations of the
county.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 272.004. TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY BY CERTAIN POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS. (a) In this section, "political subdivision" has
the same meaning as the term "issuer" under Section 1371.001,
Government Code.
(b) A political subdivision may sell, lease as a lessee or
lessor, or otherwise transfer property in the same manner as the
subregional board of a regional transportation authority under
Sections 452.108(d) and (e), Transportation Code.
(c) A sale, lease, or other transfer of property under this
section must be approved by a majority of the voters voting at an
election held within the boundaries of the political subdivision
if the agreement:
(1) involves the levy by the political subdivision of a tax in
an amount sufficient to make payments due under the agreement;
and
(2) is executed on or after September 1, 1999.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1284, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30,
1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 8.300, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 272.005. LEASE OF PROPERTY TO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY. (a) To
promote a public purpose of the political subdivision, a
political subdivision may:
(1) lease property owned by the political subdivision to another
political subdivision or an agency of the state or federal
government; or
(2) make an agreement to provide office space in property owned
by the political subdivision to the other political subdivision
or agency.
(b) In acting under Subsection (a), the political subdivision:
(1) shall determine the terms of the lease or agreement so as to
promote and maintain the public purpose;
(2) may provide for the lease of the property or provision of
the office space at less than fair market value; and
(3) is not required to comply with any competitive purchasing
procedure or any notice and publication requirement imposed by
this chapter or other law.
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
245, Sec. 1, eff. May 25, 2007.