82R4497 NAJ-F
 
  By: Otto H.B. No. 737
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the East Montgomery County Improvement District;
  imposing a tax.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 3846.001(3), Special District Local Laws
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
               (3)  "Venue" means:
                     (A)  an arena, coliseum, stadium, or other type of
  area or facility:
                           (i)  that is used or is planned for use for
  one or more professional or amateur sports events, community
  events, or other sports events, including rodeos, livestock shows,
  agricultural expositions, promotional events, and other civic or
  charitable events; and
                           (ii)  for which a fee for admission to the
  events is charged or is planned to be charged; or
                     (B)  a convention center facility or related
  improvement such as a convention center, civic center, civic center
  building, civic center hotel, auditorium, theater, opera house,
  music hall, exhibition hall, rehearsal hall, park, zoological park,
  museum, aquarium, tourist development area along an inland
  waterway, or plaza.
         SECTION 2.  Section 3846.103(b), Special District Local Laws
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A district improvement project or service may include:
               (1)  the construction, acquisition, lease, rental,
  installment purchase, improvement, rehabilitation, repair,
  relocation, and operation of:
                     (A)  landscaping; lighting, banners, or signs;
  streets or sidewalks, pedestrian or bicycle paths and trails;
  pedestrian walkways, skywalks, crosswalks, or tunnels; highway
  right-of-way or transit corridor beautification and improvements;
                     (B)  drainage or storm water detention
  improvements and solid waste, water, sewer, or power facilities and
  services, including electrical, gas, steam, and chilled water
  facilities and services;
                     (C)  parks, lakes, gardens, recreational
  facilities, open space, scenic areas, and related exhibits and
  preserves; fountains, plazas, or pedestrian malls; public art or
  sculpture and related exhibits and facilities; educational or
  cultural exhibits and facilities; exhibits, displays, attractions,
  or facilities for special events, holidays, or seasonal or cultural
  celebrations;
                     (D)  off-street parking facilities, bus
  terminals, heliports, mass-transit, or roadway-borne or
  water-borne transportation systems; [and]
                     (E)  other public improvements, facilities, or
  services similar to the improvements, facilities, or services
  described by Paragraphs (A)-(D); and
                     (F)  a venue project authorized by Section
  3846.301;
               (2)  the cost of removal, razing, demolition, or
  clearing of land or improvements in connection with providing an
  improvement project;
               (3)  the acquisition of property or an interest in the
  property that is made in connection with an authorized improvement
  project; and
               (4)  the provision of special or supplemental services
  to improve or promote the area in the district or to protect the
  public health and safety in the district, including advertising,
  promotion, tourism, health and sanitation, public safety,
  security, fire protection or emergency medical services, business
  recruitment, development, elimination of traffic congestion, and
  recreational, educational, or cultural improvements, enhancements,
  or services.
         SECTION 3.  Section 3846.264(f), Special District Local Laws
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (f)  If a political subdivision, including a municipality,
  imposes or increases the rate of the political subdivision's [a]
  sales and use tax in the development zone and the imposition or
  increase causes the combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by
  political subdivisions in the development zone to exceed the
  maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
  subdivisions that is prescribed by Section 323.101(d), Tax Code,
  the political subdivision's sales and use tax [authorized by this
  section] is reduced to a rate that, when added to the rates of
  existing sales and use taxes imposed in [as of the date] the
  development zone, equals the maximum combined rate prescribed by
  that section [authorized the sales and use tax so that the combined
  total of all local sales and use taxes imposed in the development
  zone does not exceed two percent].
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter G, Chapter 3846, Special District
  Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 3846.304 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 3846.304.  PUBLIC PURPOSE OF VENUE PROJECT.  (a)  The
  legislature finds for all constitutional and statutory purposes
  that a venue project is owned, used, and held for public purposes by
  the district.
         (b)  Section 25.07(a), Tax Code, does not apply to a
  leasehold or other possessory interest granted by the district
  while the district owns the venue project.
         (c)  The project is exempt from taxation under Section 11.11,
  Tax Code, while the district owns the venue project.
         (d)  If approval and implementation of a resolution under
  this chapter results in the removal from a school district's
  property tax rolls of real property otherwise subject to ad valorem
  taxation, the operator of the venue project located on that real
  property shall pay to the school district on January 1 of each year
  in which the project is in operation and in which the real property
  is exempt from ad valorem taxation an amount equal to the ad valorem
  taxes that would otherwise have been levied for the preceding tax
  year on that real property by the school district, without
  including the value of any improvements. This subsection does not
  apply if the operator of the project is a political subdivision of
  this state.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter J, Chapter 3846, Special District
  Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 3846.4535 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 3846.4535.  CONTINUING AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE HOTEL
  OCCUPANCY TAX NOT LIMITED. (a) Except as provided by Section
  3846.456, the district may impose a hotel occupancy tax under this
  subchapter on any hotel located in the district, including a hotel
  located on property added under Section 3846.107.
         (b)  The imposition of a hotel occupancy tax in the district
  by a political subdivision, including a county or municipality,
  does not diminish or limit the district's authority to impose the
  hotel occupancy tax authorized by this subchapter.
         SECTION 6.  Section 3846.155(c), Special District Local Laws
  Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 7.  (a) The legal notice of the intention to
  introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
  Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
  copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
  officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
  under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
  Government Code.
         (b)  The governor, one of the required recipients, has
  submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
  Environmental Quality.
         (c)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
  its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor,
  lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
  within the required time.
         (d)  The general law relating to consent by political
  subdivisions to the creation of districts with conservation,
  reclamation, and road powers and the inclusion of land in those
  districts has been complied with.
         (e)  All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
  state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
  to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act have been
  fulfilled and accomplished.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2011.