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House Bill 1511 |
House Author: Larson |
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Effective: Vetoed |
Senate Sponsor: Eltife |
Previous law limited the rate at which municipalities could impose sales and use taxes for various specific purposes to certain fractional increments up to one-half of one percent in addition to the one percent rate for the base municipal sales and use tax. House Bill 1511 amends the Local Government Code to authorize the imposition of municipal sales and use taxes for the purposes of financing sports and community venue projects and the operation of municipal crime control and prevention districts and Type A or Type B municipal corporations at any rate that is an increment of one-eighth of one percent; that the municipality determines is appropriate; and that, when combined with the rates of all other sales and use taxes imposed by the municipality and other political subdivisions of the state having territory in the municipality, does not result in a combined rate of more than two percent.
House Bill 1511 amends the Tax Code to authorize a municipality to reduce or increase the rate of a municipal sales and use tax, as well as to adopt or repeal the tax, with voter approval and authorizes the imposition of that base tax and of any additional sales and use tax adopted by the municipality, including a sales and use tax for the operation of a crime control and prevention district within the municipality and a sales and use tax for street maintenance, at any rate that is an increment of one-eighth of one percent; that the municipality or the district's board of directors, as applicable, determines is appropriate; that would not result in a combined rate that exceeds the maximum combined rate of two percent for all local sales and use taxes imposed by the municipality and by political subdivisions within the municipality; and that is approved by the voters of the municipality or of the district, as applicable. The bill authorizes a municipality that has adopted an additional sales and use tax to reduce or increase the rate of the additional tax to any amount without restriction as to a specific minimum or maximum rate for that tax. The bill also extends the period in which the tax for street maintenance is in effect so that, if the tax is not reauthorized, the tax expires eight years after the date the tax originally took effect or the first day of the first calendar quarter occurring eight years after the date the tax was last reauthorized.
Reason Given for Veto: "House Bill 1511 would restrict Texans' power to vote to maintain or increase a street maintenance tax. This bill would allow municipalities to delay voter input by limiting the tax elections to once every eight years rather than the current four-year period. Texans should have the right to vote on tax measures sooner rather than later. Last session I vetoed House Bill 2972 for these same reasons. Therefore, I veto HB 1511."