BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2688

By: Workman

Urban Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that the City of Dallas was recently given the authority to petition hotels to create a tourism public improvement district composed solely of hotels within the city for the purpose of allowing hotels to propose a self-assessment to create additional funding for marketing and incentives to attract convention and group business to the area. The parties further note that the district was successful in those efforts and nearly doubled the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau's closure rate for securing citywide conventions and increased hotel occupancy levels and tourism in Dallas. H.B. 2688 seeks to extend those improvements to other parts of Texas by providing similar authority to other cities.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

H.B. 2688 amends the Local Government Code to change the municipalities to which the authority to undertake a municipal project that confers a special benefit on areas that share a common characteristic or use applies from a municipality that has a population of more than one million and a council-manager form of government and that is located in wholly or partly in a county with a population of more than two million to a municipality that has a population of more than 750,000 and less than two million or that has a population of more than 325,000 and less than 625,000.

H.B. 2688 conditions the applicability of that authority with respect to a public improvement district solely composed of territory in which the only businesses are hotels with 100 or more rooms ordinarily used for sleeping on the district being established by a municipality that has a population of more than 750,000 and less than two million and makes that authority applicable with respect to such a district in which the only businesses are hotels with 75 or more rooms ordinarily used for sleeping if the district is established by a municipality that has a population of more than 325,000 and less than 625,000.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.