Enrolled Bill Summary

With exceptions, the maximum tax rate for a municipal hotel occupancy tax is seven percent of the lodging cost. House Bill 1655 amends the Tax Code to establish a nine percent maximum for a city bordering the Gulf of Mexico with a population of more than 250,000. The act segregates the extra two percent for certain revenue allocation and accounting purposes and authorizes it to be spent only for land acquisition and other specified activities associated with a municipally owned convention center. A city affected by the act, however, may use all or any tax proceeds from hotels that were previously subject to a county hotel occupancy tax to clean and maintain city beaches.