A road district may reimburse or buy a private road or improvement only if certain construction and timing conditions are met, and some contracts must be approved by the county commissioners court.
Sec. 257.003. ACQUISITION OF ROADS. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a road district established pursuant to Section 52, Article III, Texas Constitution, may agree to: (1) reimburse a private person for money spent to construct a road or improvement that has been or will be dedicated or otherwise transferred to public use; or (2) purchase a road or improvement constructed by a private person. (b) A road district may agree to make a reimbursement or purchase under Subsection (a) only if: (1) the construction was carried out through the award of contracts in substantial conformity with the bid procedures applicable to a county; (2) the construction was performed in accordance with the road standards and rules of the county in which the road or improvement is located; and (3) the road or improvement was not opened for public use or accepted by official action of a governmental entity before the district agreed to the reimbursement or purchase. (c) A construction contract awarded for the construction of a road for which reimbursement is to be paid or that is to be purchased under Subsection (a) must be approved by the commissioners court of the county in which the road is or will be situated. The amount paid for the reimbursement or purchase: (1) may include all construction costs, including engineering, legal, financing, and other expenses incident to the construction; and (2) may be paid with proceeds from the sale of the district's bonds or from any other money available to the district. (d) In addition to the procedure provided by Subsection (a), a road district may acquire, pay for the construction of, or agree to reimburse the costs of construction or acquisition of a road, including engineering, legal, financing, and other expenses incident to the construction or acquisition, at a price not to exceed the replacement cost of the road or road improvements as determined by the commissioners court. (e) A road district bond election may state as one of its purposes the construction or acquisition of, or reimbursement of expenses for construction or acquisition of, roads for an amount that may not be more than the cost of construction on the basis of competitive bid contracts plus engineering, legal, financing, and other expenses incident to the construction, improvement, or acquisition. (f) A road district may enter into an agreement to use the proceeds of a subsequent bond sale for reimbursing all construction costs, engineering and other expenses, and financing costs incident to construction or acquisition of a road to a private person who constructs or acquires a facility that benefits the road district pursuant to the agreement. The agreement may provide the terms and conditions under which the road district will be required to accept the dedication or transfer of the road or road improvements to the district for the benefit of the public and to pay or reimburse the cost of constructing or acquiring the road. A road district may assign all or any portion of its rights or obligations under the agreement to any other political subdivision authorized by law to own, operate, or maintain the road that is the subject of the agreement. (g) In this section, "construction" includes improvement and landscaping. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.