SRC-VRA H.B. 1088 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 1088
By: Hill (Carona)
Intergovernmental Relations
4/17/2003
Engrossed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller) must provide
to a municipality that has adopted a sales and use tax and that has a
population of not more than 275,000, information relating to the amount of
tax paid to the municipality during the preceding or current year by each
person doing business in the municipality who annually remits to the
comptroller tax payments of more than $100,000.  As proposed, H.B. 1088
lowers the tax payment threshold to $25,000 for the comptroller to provide
information and allows the governing body of a municipality to receive
information or question employees or a third party regarding the
information received by the municipality without having to confer with
those individuals in an open meeting.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 321.3022, Tax Code, by amending Subsection (a)
and adding Subsection (i), as follows: 

(a)  Requires the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller) to provide
to a municipality that has adopted a tax and that has a population of not
more than 275,000, information relating to the amount of tax paid to the
municipality during the preceding or current year by each person doing
business in the municipality who annually remits to the comptroller state
and local sales tax payments of more than $25,000, rather than $100,000. 

(i)  Provides that the governing body of a municipality, notwithstanding
Chapter 551, Government Code, is not required to confer with one or more
employees or a third party in an open meeting to receive information or
question the employees or third party regarding the information received
by the municipality under this section.   

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 321.3022(f), Tax Code, to provide that
information received by a municipality under this section is confidential,
and may be used for internal auditing of a tax paid to the municipality
under this chapter.  

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2003.