BILL ANALYSIS
By: Guillen
Local Government Ways & Means
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, the hotel occupancy tax is capped at four percent for counties without a municipality. CSHB 2322 will remove the four percent cap for certain border counties with a population of 10,000 or more that do not include an incorporated municipality and provide a cap of seven percent: that is, the same cap established for counties that do have at least one incorporated municipality.
While lightly populated, certain counties along the Texas-Mexico border do enjoy a significant amount of tourism on which they are increasingly dependent for maintaining a stable economy. These counties need the ability to impose a hotel occupancy tax at a rate comparable to that of more populous counties.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1: Amends section 352.003(c), Tax Code, to exclude a county with a population of 10,000 or more that borders the United Mexican States.
SECTION 2: Stipulates exclusions related to the effective date of the Act.
SECTION 3: Effective Date
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
HB2322 had repealed Section 352.003(c), whereas CSHB2322 amends Section 352.003(c) to create an exclusion for a county with a population of 10,000 or more that borders the United Mexican States.