San Antonio River Authority

Final Results of Last Sunset Review

Sunset Review 

• Amend the San Antonio River Authority’s (SARA) Sunset review date to 2035.

Planning and Transparency

• Direct SARA to conduct more comprehensive, inclusive strategic planning. (Management action — nonstatutory) 
• Direct SARA to establish guidelines for evaluating and selecting projects and publish them on its website. (Management action — nonstatutory)
• Direct SARA to publish more digestible information about its tax revenue spending and rate setting process on its website. (Management action — nonstatutory)
• Direct SARA’s board to update its fund balance policy. (Management action — nonstatutory)

Nonprofit Relationships

• Clearly authorize SARA to work with nonprofits.
• Prohibit SARA staff and limit SARA board members from serving on an affiliated nonprofit’s board.
• Require SARA to develop a policy governing affiliated nonprofit fundraising and criteria for corporate sponsorships.
• Direct SARA to review its relationships with affiliated nonprofits every five years. (Management action — nonstatutory)
• Direct SARA to develop a policy governing the support its staff can provide to nonprofits. (Management action — nonstatutory)

Outdated Master Plan Requirement

• Remove Section 4-A (“Master Plan”) of SARA’s enabling law, to eliminate an outdated requirement that does not reflect the authority’s current practice of participating in regional water and flood planning groups sponsored by the Texas Water Development Board.

Fiscal Year Update

• Establish a fiscal year that begins on October 1, rather than July 1, to align SARA’s budget process with the release of the certified tax rolls.

Facilitate Codification 

• Align SARA’s penalties, local posting requirements, and purchasing, procurement, and contracting requirements with those in Water Code. 
• Update outdated references to Water Code and to joint board meetings.
• Allow SARA to dispose of its property under general law.
• Remove an unconstitutional provision from SARA’s enabling law. 
• Align SARA’s board elections with the uniform election date in November.
• Align the start of SARA’s board terms with the start of the calendar year.

Governance and Organizational Best Practices

• Apply standard across-the-board requirements regarding board member training, the separation of board and staff duties, and public testimony to SARA.
• Apply the standard across-the-board requirement regarding developing and maintaining a system for receiving and acting on complaints to SARA.
• Standardize SARA’s board voting requirements to allow for a simple majority in all cases, rather than varying depending on the subject matter of the vote. 
• Update an antiquated provision in SARA’s enabling law to allow all eligible voters within SARA’s district to vote in board elections, not only the owners of taxable property.
• Direct SARA to improve its contracting processes to ensure sufficient consistency and transparency. (Management action — nonstatutory)
• Direct the Texas Legislative Council to update SARA’s governing law. (Management action — nonstatutory)