LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 6, 2001 TO: Honorable Rene Oliveira, Chair, House Committee on Ways & Means FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1886 by Coleman (Relating to municipal hotel occupancy taxes.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would amend Chapter 351 of the Tax Code to delete the definition of an "eligible municipality." An "eligible central municipality" would be redefined as having a population of more than 440,000 but less than 1.5 million. The bill would require a municipality with a population of more than 1.6 million to allocate not less than 23 percent of its hotel occupancy tax revenue to advertising and conducting solicitations and promotional programs to attract tourists to the municipality or its vicinity, so long as the allocation did not impair the authority of the municipality to dedicate all or any portion of the tax revenue to the payment of bonds. Currently, Houston is the only municipality with a population of at least 1.2 million but has not adopted by ordinance a capital improvement plan for convention and exposition facilities for the municipality, therefore no municipalities would be affected by the deletion of the definition an "eligible municipality" by the bill. Houston is also the only municipality in the state with a population of more than 1.6 million. Therefore, it would be the only municipality affected by the provisions relating to the allocation of no less than 23 percent of hotel occupancy tax revenues to tourist promotion. This bill would take effect immediately upon enactment, assuming that it received the requisite two-thirds majority votes in both houses of the Legislature. Otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2001. Local Government Impact No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, SD