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SECTION 1. Section
351.101(a), Tax Code, as amended by Chapter 979 (H.B. 3615), Acts of the
84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is 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, flag football, and rodeos, 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;
(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) 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; or
(xi) is an eligible
barrier island coastal municipality that imposes the tax at a rate equal to
or greater than 7.5 percent of the price paid for a room; 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, except that for an eligible barrier island coastal
municipality that imposes the tax at a rate equal to or greater than 7.5
percent of the price paid for a room, the involved sports facilities,
fields, or fishing piers have been used, in the preceding calendar year, a
combined total of more than 5 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.
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