| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge |
|
|
revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax for the payment of |
|
|
obligations related to hotel projects. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 351.102(b), Tax Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
(b) An eligible central municipality, [or] a municipality |
|
|
with a population of 173,000 or more that is located within two or |
|
|
more counties, or a municipality with a population of 96,000 or more |
|
|
that is located in a county that borders Lake Palestine may pledge |
|
|
the revenue derived from the tax imposed under this chapter from a |
|
|
hotel project that is owned by or located on land owned by or that |
|
|
will be owned by the municipality or, in an eligible central |
|
|
municipality, by a nonprofit corporation acting on behalf of an |
|
|
eligible central municipality, and that is located within 1,000 |
|
|
feet of a convention center facility owned by the municipality for |
|
|
the payment of bonds or other obligations issued or incurred to |
|
|
acquire, lease, construct, and equip the hotel and any facilities |
|
|
ancillary to the hotel, including convention center |
|
|
entertainment-related facilities, meeting spaces, public spaces, |
|
|
including open public spaces used for connectivity, plazas, |
|
|
restaurants, shops, street and water and sewer infrastructure, and |
|
|
parking facilities within 1,000 feet of the hotel or convention |
|
|
center facility. For bonds or other obligations issued under this |
|
|
subsection, an eligible central municipality or a municipality |
|
|
described by this subsection [with a population of 173,000 or more
|
|
|
that is located within two counties] may only pledge revenue or |
|
|
other assets of the hotel project benefiting from those bonds or |
|
|
other obligations. |
|
|
SECTION 2. 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. |