By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 682
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenues in certain
  municipalities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 351.101(a), Tax Code, as amended by
  Chapters 541 (S.B. 551) and 546 (S.B. 585), Acts of the 83rd
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be
  used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry,
  and that use is limited to the following:
               (1)  the acquisition of sites for and the construction,
  improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
  maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information
  centers, or both;
               (2)  the furnishing of facilities, personnel, and
  materials for the registration of convention delegates or
  registrants;
               (3)  advertising and conducting solicitations and
  promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates
  or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity;
               (4)  the encouragement, promotion, improvement, and
  application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal music,
  dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, design and
  allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft
  arts, motion pictures, radio, television, tape and sound recording,
  and other arts related to the presentation, performance, execution,
  and exhibition of these major art forms;
               (5)  historical restoration and preservation projects
  or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and
  promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention
  delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums:
                     (A)  at or in the immediate vicinity of convention
  center facilities or visitor information centers; or
                     (B)  located elsewhere in the municipality or its
  vicinity that would be frequented by tourists and convention
  delegates;
               (6)  for a municipality located in a county with a
  population of one million or less, expenses, including promotion
  expenses, directly related to a sporting event in which the
  majority of participants are tourists who substantially increase
  economic activity at hotels and motels within the municipality or
  its vicinity;
               (7)  subject to Section 351.1076, the promotion of
  tourism by the enhancement and upgrading of existing sports
  facilities or fields, including facilities or fields for baseball,
  softball, soccer, and flag football, if:
                     (A)  the municipality owns the facilities or
  fields;
                     (B)  the municipality:
                           (i)  has a population of 80,000 or more and
  is located in a county that has a population of 350,000 or less;
                           (ii)  has a population of at least 75,000 but
  not more than 95,000 and is located in a county that has a
  population of less than 200,000 but more than 160,000;
                           (iii)  has a population of at least 36,000
  but not more than 39,000 and is located in a county that has a
  population of 100,000 or less that is not adjacent to a county with
  a population of more than two million;
                           (iv)  has a population of at least 13,000 but
  less than 39,000 and is located in a county that has a population of
  at least 200,000;
                           (v)  has a population of at least 70,000 but
  less than 90,000 and no part of which is located in a county with a
  population greater than 150,000;
                           (vi)  is located in a county that:
                                 (a)  is adjacent to the Texas-Mexico
  border;
                                 (b)  has a population of at least
  500,000; and
                                 (c)  does not have a municipality with
  a population greater than 500,000;
                           (vii)  has a population of at least 25,000
  but not more than 26,000 and is located in a county that has a
  population of 90,000 or less; [or]
                           (viii)  has a population of at least 7,500
  and is located in a county that borders the Pecos River and that has
  a population of not more than 15,000;
                           (ix) [(viii)]  is located in a county that
  has a population of not more than 300,000 and in which a component
  university of the University of Houston System is located; or
                           (x)  has a population of at least 40,000 and
  the San Marcos River flows through the municipality; and
                     (C)  the sports facilities and fields have been
  used, in the preceding calendar year, a combined total of more than
  10 times for district, state, regional, or national sports
  tournaments;
               (8)  for a municipality with a population of at least
  70,000 but less than 90,000, no part of which is located in a county
  with a population greater than 150,000, the construction,
  improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
  maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility;
               (9)  signage directing the public to sights and
  attractions that are visited frequently by hotel guests in the
  municipality;
               (10)  the construction of a recreational venue in the
  immediate vicinity of area hotels, if:
                     (A)  the municipality:
                           (i)  is a general-law municipality;
                           (ii)  has a population of not more than 900;
  and
                           (iii)  does not impose an ad valorem tax;
                     (B)  not more than $100,000 of municipal hotel
  occupancy tax revenue is used for the construction of the
  recreational venue;
                     (C)  a majority of the hotels in the municipality
  request the municipality to construct the recreational venue;
                     (D)  the recreational venue will be used primarily
  by hotel guests; and
                     (E)  the municipality will pay for maintenance of
  the recreational venue from the municipality's general fund;
               (11)  the construction, improvement, enlarging,
  equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of a coliseum or
  multiuse facility, if the municipality:
                     (A)  has a population of at least 90,000 but less
  than 120,000; and
                     (B)  is located in two counties, at least one of
  which contains the headwaters of the San Gabriel River; and
               (12)  for a municipality with a population of more than
  175,000 but less than 225,000 that is located in two counties, each
  of which has a population of less than 200,000, the construction,
  improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
  maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility and related
  infrastructure or a venue, as defined by Section 334.001(4), Local
  Government Code, that is related to the promotion of tourism.
         SECTION 2.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
  over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
  relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
  codes.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2015.