By: Burrows (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 3754

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 2019; May 7, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce; May 20, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 20, 2019, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the collection of local permit and license fees authorized under the Alcoholic Beverage Code; authorizing a fee.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 11.38, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:

(b) The commission or administrator may cancel or suspend a permit if it finds that the permittee has not paid a fee levied under this section within 180 days after the date the fee was levied. A permittee who sells an alcoholic beverage without first having paid a fee levied under this section commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200.

(b-1) A city, town, or county may enter into a contract with a private attorney or a public or private vendor for the collection of an unpaid permit fee levied under this section that is more than 60 days past due. A private attorney or a public or private vendor collecting a fee under this subsection may assess a collection charge to a permit holder for late payment or nonpayment of a fee levied under this section.

(b-2) A city, town, or county may enter into an interlocal agreement with another entity authorized to levy a fee under this section for the collection of a permit fee that is more than 60 days past due on behalf of the other entity and shall remit the appropriate fees collected to the other entity. The amount collected through an interlocal agreement under this subsection may not exceed the amount of the fee levied by the city, town, or county under this section and any collection charge assessed by a private attorney or a public or private vendor under Subsection (b-1).

SECTION 2. Section 61.36, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:

(b) The commission or administrator may cancel or suspend a license if it finds the licensee has not paid a fee levied under this section within 180 days after the date the fee was levied. A licensee who sells an alcoholic beverage without first having paid a fee levied under this section commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200.

(b-1) A city, town, or county may enter into a contract with a private attorney or a public or private vendor for the collection of an unpaid license fee levied under this section that is more than 60 days past due. A private attorney or a public or private vendor collecting a fee under this subsection may assess a collection charge to a license holder for late payment or nonpayment of a fee levied under this section.

(b-2) A city, town, or county may enter into an interlocal agreement with another entity authorized to levy a fee under this section for the collection of a license fee that is more than 60 days past due on behalf of the other entity and shall remit the appropriate fees collected to the other entity. The amount collected through an interlocal agreement under this subsection may not exceed the amount of the fee levied by the city, town, or county under this section and any collection charge assessed by a private attorney or a public or private vendor under Subsection (b-1).

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 11.38(b) and 61.36(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, apply only to fees originally levied on or after the effective date of this Act. Fees originally levied before the effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.

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