Sec. 374.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Agency" means a public urban renewal agency created under this chapter.

(2) "Area of operation" means the area within the corporate boundaries of a municipality.

(3) "Blighted area" means an area that is not a slum area, but that, because of deteriorating buildings, structures, or other improvements; defective or inadequate streets, street layout, or accessibility; unsanitary conditions; or other hazardous conditions, adversely affects the public health, safety, morals, or welfare of the municipality and its residents, substantially retards the provision of a sound and healthful housing environment, or results in an economic or social liability to the municipality. The term includes an area certified as a disaster area as provided by Section 374.903.

(4) "Board" means a board, commission, department, division, office, body, or other municipal unit through which a municipality elects to perform urban renewal powers, duties, or other functions.

(5) "Bond" means any bond, including a refunding bond, note, interim certificate, certificate of indebtedness, debenture, or other obligation.

(6) "Captured market value" means the amount by which the current market value of property within the boundaries of an urban renewal project area exceeds its market value at the time the urban renewal project is designated under this chapter.

(7) "Conservation" means preserving and protecting an area from blight, and includes preventing an area susceptible to blight from becoming blighted.

(8) "Clerk" means the municipal clerk or other municipal officer who is the custodian of the official municipal records.

(9) "Comptroller" means the comptroller of public accounts.

(10) "Deterioration" means impairment of quality, character, value, or safety due to use, wear and tear, or other physical causes.

(11) "Federal government" means the United States, an agency of the United States, or a corporate or other instrumentality of the United States.

(12) "Mayor" means the mayor or other chief executive officer of a municipality.

(13) "Obligee" includes a bondholder, an agent or trustee for a bondholder, a lessor who demises property used in connection with an urban renewal project to the municipality, an assignee of any part of the lessor's interest, and the federal government as a party to a contract with the municipality.

(14) "Planning commission" means a municipal planning commission established under law or charter.

(15) "Public body" means the state, any political subdivision of the state, or a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or of a political subdivision of the state.

(16) "Real property" includes land, improvements and fixtures on land, property of any nature that is appurtenant to or used in connection with land, and every legal or equitable estate, interest, right, or use in land, including terms for years and liens.

(17) "Rehabilitate" means to restore to a former state of solvency or efficiency or to a similar better state.

(18) "Rehabilitation" means the restoration of buildings or other structures to prevent deterioration of an area that is tending to become a blighted area or a slum area.

(19) "Slum area" means an area within a municipality that is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the municipality because the area:

(A) has a predominance of buildings or other improvements that are dilapidated, deteriorated, or obsolete due to age or other reasons;

(B) is prone to high population densities and overcrowding due to inadequate provision for open space;

(C) is composed of open land that, because of its location within municipal limits, is necessary for sound community growth through replatting, planning, and development for predominantly residential uses; or

(D) has conditions that exist due to any of the causes enumerated in Paragraphs (A)-(C) or any combination of those causes that:

(i) endanger life or property by fire or other causes; or

(ii) are conducive to:

(a) the ill health of the residents;

(b) disease transmission;

(c) abnormally high rates of infant mortality;

(d) abnormally high rates of juvenile delinquency and crime; or

(e) disorderly development because of inadequate or improper platting for adequate residential development of lots, streets, and public utilities.

(20) "Tax assessor-collector" means the tax assessor-collector of the municipality.

(21) "Tax increment" means the amount of property taxes levied and collected each year on real property in an urban renewal project area in excess of the amount levied and collected on that property during the year preceding the date of the adoption of the urban renewal plan.

(22) "Tax increment base" means the aggregate market value of all taxable real property in an urban renewal project area on the date of approval of the urban renewal plan.

(23) "Taxable real property" does not include personal property or intangible property.

(24) "Taxing entity" means a governmental unit that is authorized by law to levy taxes on property located in an urban renewal project area. The term includes the state and a political subdivision of the state, but does not include a municipality.

(25) "Urban renewal activities" includes slum clearance, redevelopment, rehabilitation, and conservation activities to prevent further deterioration of an area that is tending to become a blighted or slum area. The term includes:

(A) the acquisition of all or part of a slum area or blighted area or the acquisition of land that is predominantly open and that, because of obsolete platting, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or site improvements, or for other reasons, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the community;

(B) the demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;

(C) the installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary to fulfill urban renewal objectives in accordance with an urban renewal plan;

(D) the disposition by the municipality of property acquired in an urban renewal area for use in accordance with an urban renewal plan, including the sale or initial lease of the property at its fair value or the retention of the property;

(E) the implementation of plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or improvements in accordance with an urban renewal plan; and

(F) the acquisition of real property in an urban renewal area as necessary to remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration or to provide land for needed public facilities.

(26) "Urban renewal area" means a slum area, blighted area, or a combination of those areas that the governing body of a municipality designates as appropriate for an urban renewal project.

(27) "Urban renewal plan" means a plan for an urban renewal project that:

(A) conforms to the general municipal plan except as provided by Section 374.903; and

(B) includes:

(i) any zoning and planning changes;

(ii) building requirements;

(iii) land uses;

(iv) maximum densities;

(v) land acquisition;

(vi) redevelopment;

(vii) rehabilitation;

(viii) demolition and removal of structures; and

(ix) a description of the plan's relationship to local objectives relating to public transportation, traffic conditions, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other improvements.

(28) "Urban renewal project" includes any of the following activities undertaken in accordance with an urban renewal plan:

(A) municipal activities in an urban renewal area that are designed to eliminate or to prevent the development or spread of slums and blighted areas;

(B) slum clearance and redevelopment in an urban renewal area;

(C) rehabilitation or conservation in an urban renewal area;

(D) development of open land that, because of location or situation, is necessary for sound community growth and that is to be developed, by replatting and planning, for predominantly residential uses; or

(E) any combination or part of the activities described by Paragraphs (A)-(D).

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.