| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
COMMITTEE VOTE |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
YeaNayAbsentPNV |
|
|
BirdwellX |
|
|
ZaffiriniX |
|
|
AlvaradoX |
|
|
BlancoX |
|
|
HancockX |
|
|
HughesX |
|
|
KolkhorstX |
|
|
MilesX |
|
|
SparksX |
|
|
|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
| |
|
|
relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in |
|
|
certain municipalities. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 351, Tax Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Section 351.10693 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 351.10693. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE: CERTAIN |
|
|
MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to a municipality: |
|
|
(1) with a population of less than 3,000; |
|
|
(2) through which the Blanco River flows; and |
|
|
(3) that is located in a county that: |
|
|
(A) is adjacent to the county in which the State |
|
|
Capitol is located; and |
|
|
(B) has a population of at least 250,000. |
|
|
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a |
|
|
municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the |
|
|
municipal hotel occupancy tax for the promotion and preservation of |
|
|
dark skies through construction and maintenance of infrastructure |
|
|
and the purchase and installation of hardware that reduces light |
|
|
pollution and sky glow. |
|
|
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a |
|
|
municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the |
|
|
municipal hotel occupancy tax for promotional and event expenses |
|
|
for an ecological tourism event, including an event for which the |
|
|
primary attraction is traveling to an area of natural or ecological |
|
|
interest for the purpose of observing and learning about wildlife |
|
|
and the area's natural environment, if: |
|
|
(1) a majority of the event's participants are |
|
|
tourists; and |
|
|
(2) the event substantially increases economic |
|
|
activity at hotels and motels within or in the vicinity of the |
|
|
municipality. |
|
|
(d) A municipality that uses revenue from the municipal |
|
|
hotel occupancy tax for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or |
|
|
(c): |
|
|
(1) shall determine the amount of area hotel revenue |
|
|
attributable to events and activities related to those purposes for |
|
|
five years after the date the municipality first uses hotel |
|
|
occupancy tax revenue for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or |
|
|
(c); and |
|
|
(2) may not spend municipal hotel occupancy tax |
|
|
revenue for the purposes described by Subsections (b) and (c) in a |
|
|
total amount that exceeds the amount determined under Subdivision |
|
|
(1). |
|
|
(e) A municipality may not spend more than 25 percent of the |
|
|
municipality's annual hotel occupancy tax revenue for the purposes |
|
|
described by Subsections (b) and (c). |
|
|
(f) A municipality to which this section applies may not |
|
|
reduce the amount of revenue that the municipality uses for a |
|
|
purpose described by Section 351.101(a)(3) to an amount that is |
|
|
less than the average amount of revenue used by the municipality for |
|
|
that purpose during the 36-month period that precedes the |
|
|
municipality's use of revenue under Subsection (b) or (c). |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * |