(a) Transfer of allocated funds. Under this section, a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) may voluntarily transfer funds allocated to it under §16.154 of this subchapter (relating to Transportation Allocation Funding Formulas) to another MPO.
(b) Transfer agreement. An agreement for the transfer of allocated funds must be written, executed by both MPOs, and approved by the executive director. The agreement must include:
  (1) the amount of funding to be transferred and the program funding category described in §16.153 of this subchapter (relating to Funding Categories) from which it will be re-allocated;
  (2) the total amount of funds to be reimbursed from allocations to the recipient MPO in future years, the applicable program funding category, the reimbursement period, and the payment schedule; and
  (3) a description of the project or projects to be developed with the transferred funds, including the project limits, connections with other transportation facilities, and the geographic area affected.
(c) Commission approval. In determining whether to approve the transfer, the commission will consider the:
  (1) transportation need for and anticipated public benefit of the transfer, including:
    (A) possible loss of federal obligation authority or apportionment in one or more fiscal years; and
    (B) need of the recipient MPO for increased funding to complete a pending project;
  (2) reasonableness of the financial terms contained in the transfer agreement; and
  (3) relationship of the transfer to furthering the purposes of this chapter.
(d) Reimbursement priority. The obligation of a recipient MPO to reimburse the lending MPO in accordance with the transfer agreement has priority over all other considerations relating to the allocation of future funding in the applicable program funding category to each of the participating MPOs. If, in any fiscal year, funds in the applicable program funding category are not available to the recipient MPO in an amount sufficient to reimburse the scheduled payment or payments, all of the recipient MPO's available funds in that category for that fiscal year will be re-allocated to the lending MPO. Any remaining unpaid balance of the scheduled reimbursement has priority in the next fiscal year over all other considerations relating to the recipient MPO's allocation of funding from the applicable program funding category. The priorities described in this subsection may be changed by written consent of all parties to the transfer agreement.
(e) Federal requirements. The transfer and reimbursement of funds under this section are subject to all applicable federal requirements.

Source Note: The provisions of this §16.159 adopted to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 8388