By: Estes  S.B. No. 832
         (In the Senate - Filed February 10, 2017; February 27, 2017,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources &
  Economic Development; March 30, 2017, reported favorably by the
  following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0, 1 present not voting;
  March 30, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
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, Tax Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An eligible central municipality, a municipality with a
  population of 173,000 or more that is located within two or more
  counties, a municipality with a population of 96,000 or more that is
  located in a county that borders Lake Palestine or contains the
  headwaters of the San Gabriel River, or a municipality with a
  population of at least 99,900 but not more than 111,000 that is
  located in a county with a population of at least 135,000 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 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, restaurants, shops, street and water
  and sewer infrastructure necessary for the operation of the hotel
  or ancillary facilities, 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 or
  Subsection (e) may only pledge revenue or other assets of the hotel
  project benefiting from those bonds or other obligations.
         (c)  A municipality to which Subsection (b) or (e) applies is
  entitled to receive all funds from a project described by this
  section that an owner of a project may receive under Section
  151.429(h) of this code, or Section 2303.5055, Government Code, and
  may pledge the funds for the payment of obligations issued under
  this section.
         (d)  Except as provided by this subsection, an eligible
  central municipality or another municipality described by
  Subsection (b) or (e) that uses revenue derived from the tax imposed
  under this chapter or funds received under Subsection (c) for a
  hotel project described by Subsection (b) may not reduce the
  percentage of revenue from the tax imposed under this chapter and
  allocated for a purpose described by Section 351.101(a)(3) to a
  percentage that is less than the average percentage of that revenue
  allocated by the municipality for that purpose during the 36-month
  period preceding the date the municipality begins using the revenue
  or funds for the hotel project.  This subsection does not apply to
  an eligible central municipality described by Section
  351.001(7)(D).
         (e)  In addition to the municipalities described by
  Subsection (b), that subsection also applies to a municipality with
  a population of at least 9,000 but not more than 10,000 that is
  located in two counties, each of which has a population of at least
  662,000 and a southern border with a county with a population of 2.3
  million or more.
         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, 2017.
 
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