EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*sb0014*
SENATE BILL 14
C8, Q1, Q7 4lr1266
(PRE–FILED) CF HB 1281
By: Senator Jackson
Requested: October 30, 2023
Introduced and read first time: January 10, 2024
Assigned to: Budget and Taxation
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: February 27, 2024
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Economic Development – Tourism Zones – Designation and Benefits 2
FOR the purpose of authorizing the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City or the 3
governing body of a county or municipality to designate, by law, an area within that 4
political subdivision as a tourism zone under certain circumstances; providing that 5
the designation of an area as a tourism zone may not preclude the area from also 6
being designated as a certain arts and entertainment district; authorizing Baltimore 7
City a county or a municipality to exempt from the admissions and amusement tax 8
gross receipts from certain admissions or amusement charges levied in a tourism 9
zone; authorizing the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City or the governing 10
body of a county or municipality to grant, by law, a property tax credit against the 11
county or municipal property tax imposed on certain real property and certain 12
personal property located within a tourism zone; and generally relating to the 13
designation of tourism zones within Baltimore City counties and municipalities. 14
BY adding to 15
Article – Local Government 16
Section 18–401 through 18–403 to be under the new subtitle “Subtitle 4. Tourism 17
Zones” 18
Annotated Code of Maryland 19
(2013 Volume and 2023 Supplement) 20
BY adding to 21
Article – Tax – General 22 2 SENATE BILL 14
Section 4–104(g) 1
Annotated Code of Maryland 2
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 3
BY adding to 4
Article – Tax – Property 5
Section 9–268 and 9–269 6
Annotated Code of Maryland 7
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 8
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 9
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 10
Article – Local Government 11
SUBTITLE 4. TOURISM ZONES. 12
18–401. 13
(A) IN THIS SUBTITLE THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS 14
INDICATED. 15
(B) “QUALIFYING TOURISM EN TERPRISE” MEANS A FOR –PROFIT OR 16
NONPROFIT ENTITY THA T CONDUCTS BUSINESS WITHIN A TOURISM ZONE , SUBJECT 17
TO THE LIMITATIONS S PECIFIED BY THE POLI TICAL SUBDIVISION WI THIN WHICH 18
THE TOURISM ZONE IS LOCATED. 19
(C) “TOURISM ZONE ” MEANS A DEVELOPED ZO NE OF PUBLIC AND PRI VATE 20
USES THAT IS DESIGNA TED BY A POLITICAL S UBDIVISION FOR THE D EVELOPMENT 21
OF TRAVEL AND TOURIS M AND LOCATED WITHIN THAT POLITICAL SUBDI VISION. 22
18–402. 23
(A) THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE CITY OR THE 24
GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY MAY DES IGNATE, BY LAW, AN 25
AREA WITHIN THE POLI TICAL SUBDIVISION AS A TOURISM ZONE . 26
(B) IN DESIGNATING A TOUR ISM ZONE UNDER SUBSE CTION (A) OF THIS 27
SECTION, THE POLITICAL SUBDIV ISION MAY PROVIDE , BY LAW, FOR: 28
(1) THE DURATION OF THE DESIGNATION; AND 29
(2) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA TO QUALIFY AS A QUAL IFYING TOURISM 30
ENTERPRISE. 31
SENATE BILL 14 3
(C) THE DESIGNATION OF AN AREA AS A TOURISM ZO NE DOES NOT 1
PRECLUDE THE AREA FR OM ALSO BEING DESIGN ATED AS AN ARTS AND 2
ENTERTAINMENT DISTRI CT UNDER TITLE 4, SUBTITLE 7 OF THE ECONOMIC 3
DEVELOPMENT ARTICLE. 4
18–403. 5
(A) IN A TOURISM ZONE : 6
(1) THE EXEMPTION FROM THE A DMISSIONS AND AMUSEM ENT TAX 7
UNDER § 4–104(G) OF THE TAX – GENERAL ARTICLE APPLIES TO QUALIFYING 8
TOURISM ENTERPRISES ; AND 9
(2) THE PROPERTY TAX CRE DITS UNDER §§ 9–268 AND 9–269 OF THE 10
TAX – PROPERTY ARTICLE APPLY. 11
(B) ON OR BEFORE JULY 1 PRECEDING THE EFFECT IVE DATE OF ITS 12
ESTABLISHMENT , THE POLITICAL JURISD ICTION SHALL NOTIFY THE COMPTROLLER 13
THAT A TOURISM DISTR ICT IS ESTABLISHED . 14
(C) A POLITICAL SUBDIVISIO N THAT ESTABLISHES A TOURISM ZONE SHALL 15
NOTIFY THE COMPTROLLER OF : 16
(1) ANY QUALIFYING TOURIS M ENTERPRISES TO WHI CH THE 17
EXEMPTION FROM THE A DMISSIONS AND AMUSEM ENT TAX UNDER § 4–104(G) OF 18
THE TAX – GENERAL ARTICLE APPLIES; AND 19
(2) THE DATE ON WHICH TH E QUALIFYING TOURISM ENTERPRISE 20
QUALIFIED FOR THE EX EMPTION; AND 21
(3) THE DATE, IF ANY, ON WHICH THE EXEMPTI ON FOR THE 22
QUALIFYING TOURISM E NTERPRISE EXPIRES . 23
Article – Tax – General 24
4–104. 25
(G) (1) IN THIS SUBSECTION , “QUALIFYING TOURISM E NTERPRISE” AND 26
“TOURISM ZONE ” HAVE THE MEANINGS ST ATED IN § 18–401 OF THE LOCAL 27
GOVERNMENT ARTICLE. 28
(2) BALTIMORE CITY 29
4 SENATE BILL 14
(I) SUBJECT TO SUBPARAGRA PH (II) OF THIS PARAGRAPH , A 1
COUNTY OR A MUNICIPAL CORPO RATION MAY EXEMPT FR OM THE ADMISSIONS AN D 2
AMUSEMENT TAX GROSS RECEIPTS FROM ANY AD MISSIONS OR AMUSEMEN T CHARGE 3
LEVIED BY A QUALIFYING TOURISM E NTERPRISE IN A TOURI SM ZONE. 4
(II) THE EXEMPTION AUTHORI ZED UNDER SUBPARAGRA PH (I) 5
OF THIS PARAGRAPH DO ES NOT APPLY TO THE STATE ADMISSIONS AND AMUSEMENT 6
TAX IMPOSED UNDER § 4–102(D) AND (E) OF THIS TITLE. 7
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FUR THER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 8
as follows: 9
Article – Tax – Property 10
9–268. 11
(A) IN THIS SECTION, “QUALIFYING TOURISM E NTERPRISE” AND “TOURISM 12
ZONE” HAVE THE MEANINGS ST ATED IN § 18–401 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT 13
ARTICLE. 14
(B) THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE CITY OR THE 15
GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATIO N MAY GRANT, BY LAW, 16
A PROPERTY TAX CREDI T AGAINST THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORA TION 17
PROPERTY TAX IMPOSED ON A BUILDING THAT : 18
(1) IS LOCATED IN A TOUR ISM ZONE; AND 19
(2) IS OWNED BY A QUALIF YING TOURISM ENTERPR ISE. 20
(C) THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE CITY OR THE 21
GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATIO N MAY PROVIDE , BY 22
LAW, FOR: 23
(1) THE AMOUNT AND DURAT ION OF THE TAX CREDI T UNDER THIS 24
SECTION; 25
(2) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILI TY CRITERIA FOR THE TAX CREDIT UNDER 26
THIS SECTION; 27
(3) REGULATIONS AND PROC EDURES FOR THE APPLI CATION AND 28
UNIFORM PROCESSING O F REQUESTS FOR THE T AX CREDIT; AND 29
(4) ANY OTHER PROVISION NECESSARY TO CARRY O UT THE TAX 30
CREDIT UNDER THIS SECTION . 31
SENATE BILL 14 5
9–269. 1
(A) IN THIS SECTION, “QUALIFYING TOURISM E NTERPRISE” AND “TOURISM 2
ZONE” HAVE THE MEANINGS ST ATED IN § 18–401 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT 3
ARTICLE. 4
(B) THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE CITY OR THE 5
GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATIO N MAY GRANT, BY LAW, 6
A PROPERTY TAX CREDI T AGAINST THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORA TION 7
PROPERTY TAX IMPOSED ON PERSONAL PROPERTY OF A QUALIFYING TOUR ISM 8
ENTERPRISE THAT IS L OCATED WITHIN A TOUR ISM ZONE. 9
(C) THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE CITY OR THE 10
GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CORPORATIO N MAY PROVIDE , BY 11
LAW, FOR: 12
(1) THE AMOUNT AND DURAT ION OF THE TAX CREDI T UNDER THIS 13
SECTION; 14
(2) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILI TY CRITERIA FOR THE TAX CREDIT UNDER 15
THIS SECTION; 16
(3) REGULATIONS AND PROC EDURES FOR THE APPLI CATION AND 17
UNIFORM PROCESSING O F REQUESTS FOR THE T AX CREDIT; AND 18
(4) ANY OTHER PROVISION NECESSARY TO CARRY O UT THE TAX 19
CREDIT UNDER THIS SE CTION. 20
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That Section 2 of this Act shall be 21
applicable to all taxable years beginning after June 30, 2024. 22
SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 23
1, 2024. 24
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.