Sec. 361.903.  BROWNFIELD CLEANUP AND ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT FUND.  (a)  The commissioners court of a county may establish a fund for a brownfield program and deposit to the credit of the fund any money the commissioners court considers appropriate, including revenue from property taxes, sales taxes, fees, gifts or grants, principal and interest payments made to repay loans from the fund, proceeds from the issuance of bonds, and contributions of other resources.
(b)  Money from a fund established under this section may be used only to provide for economic growth and development of the county by paying for all or part of:
(1)  the cost of an assessment;
(2)  the cost of remediating a brownfield;
(3)  the cost of inspecting a property or facility after remediation;
(4)  a loan to an eligible owner or licensed professional engineer to conduct assessment, eligible site remediation, or inspection of a property or facility after remediation; or
(5)  administrative expenses associated with implementing the brownfield program.
(c)  For the purposes of the county's brownfield program, a county may solicit and leverage money from other sources, including federal money that may be available for brownfield assessment and eligible site remediation.
(d)  Before a county may issue bonds payable from ad valorem taxes to provide money for a fund, the bond issuance must be approved by a majority of the voters voting on the issue at an election held for that purpose.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 379 (S.B. 1413), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.