A municipality or county governing body may authorize an improvement project, and a county may establish a public improvement district unless a home rule municipality objects within 30 days.
Sec. 372.003. AUTHORIZED IMPROVEMENTS. (a) If the governing body of a municipality or county finds that it promotes the interests of the municipality or county, the governing body may undertake an improvement project that confers a special benefit on a definable part of the municipality or county or the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. A project may be undertaken in the municipality or county or the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. (b) A public improvement project may include: (1) landscaping; (2) erection of fountains, distinctive lighting, and signs; (3) acquiring, constructing, improving, widening, narrowing, closing, or rerouting of sidewalks or of streets, any other roadways, or their rights-of-way; (4) construction or improvement of pedestrian malls; (5) acquisition and installation of pieces of art; (6) acquisition, construction, or improvement of libraries; (7) acquisition, construction, or improvement of off-street parking facilities; (8) acquisition, construction, improvement, or rerouting of mass transportation facilities; (9) acquisition, construction, or improvement of water, geothermal water conveyance, wastewater, or drainage facilities or improvements; (10) the establishment or improvement of parks; (11) projects similar to those listed in Subdivisions (1)-(10); (12) acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of real property in connection with an authorized improvement; (13) special supplemental services for improvement and promotion of the district, including services relating to advertising, promotion, health and sanitation, water and wastewater, public safety, security, business recruitment, development, recreation, and cultural enhancement; (14) payment of expenses incurred in the establishment, administration, and operation of the district; and (15) the development, rehabilitation, or expansion of affordable housing. (b-1) Payment of expenses under Subsection (b)(14) may also include expenses related to the operation and maintenance of mass transportation facilities. (b-2) Payment of expenses under Subsection (b)(9) may also include expenses related to the operation and maintenance of a geothermal water conveyance facility or improvement. (c) A public improvement project may be limited to the provision of the services described by Subsection (b)(13). (d) A county may establish a public improvement district unless within 30 days of a county's action to approve such a district, a home rule municipality objects to its establishment within the municipality's corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 76(c), eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1341, Sec. 3, eff. June 16, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 340 (H.B. 1029), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 970 (H.B. 1400), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 455 (H.B. 4370), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.