Relating to the definition of a rural political subdivision for purposes of the Texas Water Assistance Program.

Contracts

• Financing Contingencies: Review all development and infrastructure contracts that rely on state-subsidized financing. If a project loses "rural" status, it may no longer qualify for low-interest loans or principal forgiveness.
• Vendor Agreements: Amend scopes of work for grant writers and engineering firms to mandate eligibility verification under the surviving statute before billable hours are incurred on application drafting.

Hiring/Training

• Grant Teams: Staff responsible for TWDB applications must be retrained to stop using the S.B. 469 definition. They must now strictly apply the population caps and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) exclusions found in the remaining statute.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Demographic Substantiation: Applicants must curate specific data sets (Decennial Census or most recent American Community Survey) that prove the entity meets the surviving definition.
• Legal Opinions: In-house counsel should generate an internal memo confirming the entity’s status under the single controlling definition to support future bond counsel opinions.

Fees & Costs

• Cost of Capital: While there are no new regulatory fees, entities that lose "rural" status will be forced into market-rate financing. This could result in a significant increase in debt service costs for planned infrastructure projects.