Sec. 370.172. REVENUE

(a) An authority may:

(1) impose tolls, fees, fares, or other charges for the use of each of its transportation projects and the different parts or sections of each of its transportation projects; and

(2) subject to Subsection (j), contract with a person for the use of part of a transportation project, or lease or sell part of a transportation project, including the right-of-way adjoining the portion used to transport people and property, for any purpose, including placing on the adjoining right-of-way a gas station, garage, store, hotel, restaurant, parking facility, railroad track, billboard, livestock pasturage, telephone line or facility, telecommunication line or facility, data transmission line or facility, or electric line or facility, under terms set by the authority.

(b) Tolls, fees, fares, or other charges must be set at rates or amounts so that the aggregate of tolls, fees, fares, or other charges from an authority's transportation project, together with other revenue of the transportation project:

(1) provides revenue sufficient to pay:

(A) the cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the transportation project;

(B) the principal of and interest on any bonds issued for the transportation project as those bonds become due and payable; and

(C) any other payment obligations of an authority under a contract or agreement authorized under this chapter; and

(2) creates reserves for a purpose listed under Subdivision (1).

(c) Any toll, fee, fare, or other charge imposed on an owner of a public utility facility under this section must be imposed in a manner that is competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory among similarly situated users of the transportation project.

(d) Tolls, fees, fares, or other usage charges are not subject to supervision or regulation by any agency of this state or another governmental entity.

(e) Revenue derived from tolls, fees, and fares, and other revenue derived from a transportation project for which bonds are issued, other than any part necessary to pay the cost of maintenance, repair, and operation and to provide reserves for those costs as provided in the bond proceedings, shall be set aside at regular intervals as provided in the bond resolution or trust agreement in a sinking fund that is pledged to and charged with the payment of:

(1) interest on the bonds as it becomes due;

(2) principal of the bonds as it becomes due;

(3) necessary charges of paying agents for paying principal and interest;

(4) the redemption price or the purchase price of bonds retired by call or purchase as provided in the bond proceedings; and

(5) any amounts due under credit agreements.

(f) Use and disposition of money deposited to the credit of the sinking fund is subject to the bond proceedings.

(g) To the extent permitted under the applicable bond proceedings, revenue from one transportation project of an authority may be used to pay the cost of another transportation project of the authority.

(h) An authority may not use revenue from a transportation project in a manner not authorized by this chapter. Except as provided by this chapter, revenue derived from a transportation project may not be applied for a purpose or to pay a cost other than a cost or purpose that is reasonably related to or anticipated to be for the benefit of a transportation project.

(i) An authority may not require the owner of a public utility facility to pay a fee as a condition of placing a facility across the rights-of-way.

(j) If the transportation project is a project other than a public utility facility, an authority may contract for the use of part of a transportation project or lease or sell part of a transportation project under Subsection (a)(2) only to the extent that the contract, lease, or sale benefits the users of the transportation project.

(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an authority may pledge all or any part of its revenues and any other funds available to the authority to the payment of any obligations of the authority under a contract or agreement authorized by this chapter.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1325, Sec. 2.01, eff. June 21, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1279 , Sec. 9, eff. June 17, 2011.