As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 138
2025-2026
Representatives Dovilla, Santucci
Cosponsors: Representatives Brennan, Daniels, Dean, Fischer, Jarrells, Ray,
Williams
A B I L L
To enact sections 1787.01, 1787.02, 1787.03,
1787.04, 1787.05, 1787.06, 1787.07, 1787.08,
1787.09, 1787.10, 1787.11, 1787.12 , and 1787.13
of the Revised Code to authorize the creation of
tourism promotion districts and the levying of
assessments therein.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 1787.01, 1787.02, 1787.03,
1787.04, 1787.05, 1787.06, 1787.07, 1787.08, 1787.09, 1787.10,
1787.11, 1787.12, and 1787.13 of the Revised Code be enacted to
read as follows:
Sec. 1787.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Authorizing legislative authority" means a
legislative authority that adopts either an authorizing
resolution or an ordinance or resolution stating its intent to
establish or renew a tourism promotion district pursuant to
section 1787.03 of the Revised Code or modify a district plan
pursuant to section 1787.04 of the Revised Code.
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(B) "Authorizing resolution" means an ordinance or
resolution adopted by the legislative authority under section
1787.06 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Benefit assessment" means an assessment levied under
section 1787.07 of the Revised Code.
(D) "District management association" means the nonprofit
corporation a municipal corporation, township, or county
contracts with to administer or implement supplemental services
and improvements pursuant to section 1787.10 of the Revised
Code.
(E) "District plan" means the plan described in division
(B) of section 1787.03 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Improvement" means the acquisition, construction, or
installation of, or maintenance relating to, tangible property
with an estimated useful life of five years or more that is
designed to provide benefits to lodging businesses.
(G) "Legislative authority" means the legislative
authority of a municipal corporation, the board of trustees of a
township, or the board of commissioners of a county.
(H) "Lodging business" means a "hotel" as defined in
section 5739.01 of the Revised Code.
(I) "Lodging business owner" means the record owner of a
lodging business.
(J) "Services" means the promotion of lodging business
activities or tourism and any other activity provided for the
benefit of lodging businesses for the purpose of increasing
overnight lodging stays.
(K) "Supplemental services and improvements" means
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services and improvements provided through funding that is in
excess of the amount determined under division (C)(12) of
section 1787.06 of the Revised Code for the benefit of lodging
businesses subject to a benefit assessment.
Sec. 1787.02. (A) A municipal corporation, township, or
county may establish a tourism promotion district to fund
supplemental services and improvements that benefit lodging
businesses pursuant to this chapter by assessing a benefit
assessment on lodging businesses located within the district.
(B) A municipal corporation may create a district within
the territory of a municipal corporation. A township may create
a district within the unincorporated territory of the township.
A county may create a district within the unincorporated area of
the county. A municipal corporation, township, or county may
extend the boundaries of the district outside such territory,
but only if the township or county, in the case of boundaries
extended to unincorporated territory, or the municipal
corporation, in the case of boundaries extended to the territory
of the municipal corporation, consents, by ordinance or
resolution, to the creation of that district. The boundaries of
a proposed tourism promotion district shall not overlap with the
boundaries of another tourism promotion district, and a
district's territory shall be contiguous.
(C) A tourism promotion district shall be established for
a specific term of years. The term of a newly established
district shall be not less than three and not more than five
years, unless the district plan proposes that revenue bonds are
to be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code, in which
case the term shall run until the revenue bonds' maximum
maturity. The term of a renewed district shall be not more than
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ten years, unless the plan proposes that revenue bonds are to be
issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code, in which case
the term shall run until the revenue bonds' maximum maturity.
Sec. 1787.03. (A) A legislative authority may, by
ordinance or resolution, and subject to the notice, hearing, and
protest provisions contained in section 1787.05 of the Revised
Code, initiate proceedings to establish or renew a tourism
promotion district. Such ordinance or resolution may only be
adopted following the valid request of one or more lodging
business owners that would be located within the proposed
district.
A valid request to establish or renew a district shall
include a district plan that complies with division (B) of this
section and a plan summary that complies with division (C) of
this section. An ordinance or resolution to initiate proceedings
to establish or renew a district shall comply with division (D)
of this section.
(B) A district plan shall include all of the following:
(1) A map that identifies the proposed tourism promotion
district's boundaries in sufficient detail to allow a person to
reasonably determine whether a lodging business is located
within those boundaries;
(2) The name of the district and the day it will begin
operating;
(3) Whether revenue bonds will be issued under section
1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of the district;
(4) The term of years the district will be in operation;
(5) The name of the district management association;
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(6) The supplemental services and improvements proposed
for each year of operation of the district and the estimated
cost thereof. If the supplemental services and improvements
proposed for each year of operation are the same, a description
of the first year's proposed supplemental services and
improvements and a statement that the same supplemental services
and improvements are proposed for subsequent years satisfies
this requirement.
(7) The estimated amount proposed to be expended for
supplemental services and improvements during each year of the
district's operation. This amount may be estimated based on the
benefit assessment amount or rate. An estimate of the amount
proposed to be expended in the initial year of the district's
operation and a statement that a similar amount applies to
subsequent years satisfies this requirement.
(8) The proposed source or sources of financing, including
the proposed method and basis of levying the benefit assessment
in sufficient detail to allow a person to estimate the rate or
amount of the benefit assessment to be levied against a lodging
business. The plan may propose increases in the benefit
assessment for any year of the district's operation.
(9) The estimated annual collections from the proposed
benefit assessment;
(10) If the district is to provide supplemental
improvements, whether revenue bonds will be issued under section
1787.08 of the Revised Code to finance those improvements and,
if so, the revenue bonds' maximum maturity;
(11) The time and manner of collecting the benefit
assessment and any interest or penalties for nonpayment;
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(12) The specific number of years during which a benefit
assessment will be levied, which shall equal the term of the
district;
(13) Any proposed rules that will apply to the district;
(14) A description of the types or classes of lodging
businesses to be included in the district and subject to the
district benefit assessment;
(15) A list of the existing lodging businesses in the
proposed district that are of the types of classes described
under division (B)(14) of this section;
(16) An estimate of the benefit assessment that will be
remitted on the basis of each lodging business subject to the
assessment over the term of the district's operation;
(17) If the proposed district will be a renewed district,
this disposition of any remaining revenues derived from benefit
assessments levied for the benefit of the expiring district,
which shall be consistent with division (E) of this section.
(C) A plan summary shall include all of the following:
(1) A map showing the boundaries of the tourism promotion
district;
(2) A description of the types or classes of lodging
businesses to be included in the district and subject to the
district benefit assessment;
(3) The benefit assessment rate or amount for each type or
class of lodging business that will be subject to the benefit
assessment;
(4) A description of the proposed supplemental services
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and improvements;
(5) The location where the public may review the district
plan;
(6) A statement that the district plan will be provided
upon request.
(D) An ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to
division (A) of this section shall state or include all of the
following:
(1) That the legislative authority intends to establish or
renew a tourism promotion district;
(2) A description of the exterior boundaries of the
district, which may be made by reference to the map that is
required to be included with the plan or plan summary;
(3) A description of the types or classes of lodging
businesses to be included in the district and subject to the
benefit assessment;
(4) The estimated annual collections of the benefit
assessment;
(5) The benefit assessment rate or amount for each type or
class of lodging business that will be subject to the benefit
assessment;
(6) An estimate of the benefit assessment revenue that
will be remitted;
(7) A description of the proposed supplemental services
and improvements;
(8) The location at which the public may review the
tourism district plan;
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(9) That the tourism district plan will be furnished upon
request;
(10) The time and place for a public hearing on the
establishment or renewal of the district and the levy of the
benefit assessment, which shall be consistent with the
requirements of section 1787.05 of the Revised Code.
The descriptions required under divisions (D)(2) and (7)
of this section do not need to be detailed and need only enable
a person to generally identify the location and extent of the
territory of the proposed district and the nature and extent of
the proposed supplemental services and improvements.
If the boundaries of the proposed district overlap with
another county, township, or municipal corporation for which
consent is required under section 1787.02 of the Revised Code,
the ordinance or resolution shall be accompanied by the
ordinance or resolution of consent adopted by that other county,
township, or municipal corporation.
(E) The boundaries, benefit assessments, or supplemental
services and improvements of a renewed tourism promotion
district may be different than those of the former tourism
promotion district.
Upon renewal, any remaining revenues derived from benefit
assessments, or any revenues derived from the sale of assets
acquired with the revenues, shall be transferred to the renewed
tourism promotion district. If the renewed district does not
include lodging businesses previously included in the prior
district, the remaining revenues attributable to these lodging
businesses shall either be spent consistent with the district
plan or be refunded to the owners of these lodging businesses.
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Sec. 1787.04. Upon the written request of an existing
tourism promotion district's district management association,
the authorizing legislative authority may, by ordinance or
resolution, state its intent to modify the district's district
plan.
An ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this
section shall state the modifications to be considered and the
date and location of a public hearing to consider the
modifications. The hearing date shall be not more than ninety
days after the adoption of the ordinance or resolution pursuant
to this section.
Sec. 1787.05. (A) If an authorizing legislative authority,
pursuant to section 1787.03 of the Revised Code, adopts an
ordinance or resolution stating its intent to establish a new
tourism promotion district or renew an existing district or,
pursuant to section 1787.04 of the Revised Code, adopts an
ordinance or resolution stating its intent to modify an existing
district plan, the legislative authority shall hold a public
hearing on the applicable question on or before the date the
legislative authority adopts an ordinance or resolution
authorizing that question pursuant to section 1787.06 of the
Revised Code.
At least thirty days before the hearing date, the clerk of
the legislative authority shall send notice of the hearing, by
ordinary mail, to the owner of each lodging business identified
under division (D)(6) of section 1787.03 of the Revised Code or,
in the case of a hearing on modification requested under section
1787.04 of the Revised Code, the owner of each lodging business
subject to the benefit assessment under the plan in effect at
the time the notice is sent. The notice shall include either a
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copy of the written protest form described in division (B) of
this section or the address of a web site at which that form may
be obtained.
(B) Any lodging business owner that is entitled to notice
pursuant to division (A) of this section, or the owner's agent,
may file a written protest against the proposed question, on or
before the hearing date, on a form prescribed by the legislative
authority, with the legislative authority. The legislative
authority may waive any irregularity in the form or content of
any written protest. A written protest may be withdrawn in
writing at any time before the conclusion of the hearing.
Each written protest shall contain a description of the
owner's lodging business and, if the person filing the protest
is not the lodging business owner, the protest shall be
accompanied by written evidence that the person submitting the
protest is the owner's agent.
If written protests that comply with division (B) of this
section, or for which the legislative authority waives
irregularity, are received and, excluding withdrawn protests,
represent forty per cent or more of the proposed benefit
assessment, the legislative authority shall not adopt an
ordinance or resolution to create or renew the tourism promotion
district, or modify the tourism promotion district plan,
pursuant to section 1787.06 of the Revised Code. The percentage
of benefit assessment represented by the protesting owners shall
be determined by dividing the benefit assessment estimated to be
remitted on the basis of the protesting owners' lodging
businesses over the term of the district divided by the benefit
assessment estimated to be remitted on the basis of all lodging
businesses over the term of the district.
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Sec. 1787.06. (A) After the hearing described in section
1787.05 of the Revised Code, the authorizing legislative
authority may, by ordinance or resolution, establish or renew a
tourism promotion district or modify a district plan, in
accordance with division (C) of this section and provided the
legislative authority is not prohibited from doing so by
division (B) of that section.
(B) An ordinance or resolution establishing or renewing a
tourism promotion district may not reflect a benefit assessment
rate or amount that is higher, district boundaries that increase
the district's area, or types or classes of lodging businesses
subject to benefit assessment that are broader, than those
stated in the ordinance or resolution adopted under section
1787.03 of the Revised Code.
If the benefit assessment rate or amount is lower, the
reduction shall be made in either a uniform manner or specific
to each lodging business.
(C) An ordinance or resolution establishing or renewing a
tourism promotion district, or modifying a tourism promotion
district plan, shall include all of the following:
(1) The name of the district and the day it will begin
operating;
(2) Whether revenue bonds will be issued under section
1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of the district;
(3) The term of years the district shall be in operation;
(4) A statement that the approved district plan is
incorporated into the ordinance or resolution by reference;
(5) A description of the proposed supplemental services
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and improvements, the amount or rate of the proposed benefit
assessment, a description of the types or classes of lodging
businesses that will be subject to the assessment, and a
description of the boundaries of the tourism promotion district,
which may be made by reference to any plan or map that is on
file with the legislative authority.
The descriptions in division (C)(5) of this section do not
need to be detailed and need only enable a person to generally
identify the nature and extent of the proposed supplemental
services and improvements and the location and extent of the
territory of the proposed tourism promotion district.
(6) The number, date of adoption, and title of the
ordinance or resolution adopted under section 1787.03 or section
1787.04 of the Revised Code;
(7) The time and place where the public hearing required
under section 1787.05 of the Revised Code was held;
(8) A determination regarding any protests received in
accordance with division (B) of section 1787.05 of the Revised
Code, or for which the legislative authority waived
irregularity;
(9) The following statement: "The lodging businesses in
the tourism promotion district shall be subject to any
amendments to Chapter 1787. of the Revised Code";
(10) A statement that the supplemental services and
improvements to be provided to lodging businesses in the tourism
promotion district will be funded by the proceeds of the benefit
assessment;
(11) A finding that the lodging businesses within the
tourism promotion district will benefit from the supplemental
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services and improvements funded by the benefit assessment;
(12) The amount of services and improvements funded by the
county, township, or municipal corporation in the area
encompassed by the district for the fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year in which the ordinance or resolution is adopted;
(13) A statement that, for any fiscal year in which the
district is in operation, the legislative authority shall not
reduce funding for services and improvements for the area
encompassed by the district below the amount described in
division (C)(12) of this section.
Sec. 1787.07. After adopting the authorizing resolution,
the authorizing legislative authority shall levy the benefit
assessment at the amount or rate authorized in that resolution
on lodging businesses of the type or class that are subject to
the benefit assessment for the term of the tourism promotion
district, as described in the district plan and beginning on the
date the district begins operating.
Benefit assessments may be levied based on a per cent of
gross lodging business revenue, a fixed dollar amount per
transaction, or any other reasonable method based upon benefit.
A benefit assessment may vary by types or classes of lodging
businesses as described in the tourism promotion district plan.
The rate or amount of a benefit assessment shall be levied on a
basis that provides a rational relationship between the amount
of the assessment against each lodging business subject to the
assessment and the benefit rendered to that business.
Any lodging business of the types or classes that are
subject to the benefit assessment located within the boundaries
of the tourism promotion district that begins operations during
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the district's term shall be subject to the benefit assessment.
The collection of the benefit assessments levied pursuant
to this chapter shall be made at the time and in the manner
described in the district plan. All proceeds shall be remitted
by the lodging business owner to the county, township, or
municipal corporation and deposited in a special fund created in
the county, township, or municipal treasury. Money in that fund
shall be paid to a district management association, at the
request of that association, and used solely for the
supplemental services and improvements authorized in the
district plan, including to support the issuance of revenue
bonds under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code.
All delinquent payments for benefit assessments levied
pursuant to this chapter may be charged interest and penalties.
A percentage of the benefit assessments, not to exceed two per
cent, may be retained by the county, township, or municipal
corporation to offset the cost of collection as described in the
district plan.
All other revenue from the benefit assessment shall be
used solely for the purposes specified in the district plan.
Any delinquent payments for benefit assessments, along
with any interest or penalties, shall constitute a debt owed to
the authorizing legislative authority and may be collected by
the authorizing legislative authority as a debt under law.
Any delinquent payments for benefit assessments, interest,
or penalties recovered under this section shall be expended in
the same manner as provided in the district plan for proceeds of
the benefit assessment.
Sec. 1787.08. (A) Pursuant to Ohio Constitution, Article
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VIII, Section 13, the authorizing legislative authority for a
tourism promotion district, the district management association
of a tourism promotion district, or a port authority created
under Chapter 4582. of the Revised Code that encompasses the
entire territory of a tourism promotion district may issue
revenue bonds to fund improvements benefiting the district.
(B) Benefit assessments levied in two or more tourism
promotion districts may be pledged to secure a single revenue
bond issue to fund improvements benefiting those districts.
(C) Revenue bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be
backed exclusively by the benefit assessments supporting the
tourism promotion district or districts they are issued to fund.
The revenue bonds shall not be regarded as indebtedness of any
municipal corporation, township, or county for the purpose of
any limitation imposed by any law.
Sec. 1787.09. The validity of a benefit assessment levied
under this chapter shall not be contested in any action or
proceeding unless the action or proceeding is commenced not more
than thirty days after the date the authorizing resolution is
adopted. To challenge the validity of a benefit assessment, a
lodging business owner that is or will be subject to the benefit
assessment, or the agent thereof, must file a claim in writing
with the court of common pleas in the county where the tourism
promotion district is established and the clerk of the
legislative authority. The claim shall include a specific
showing that the tourism promotion district will not provide a
benefit to the claimant's lodging business. Any appeal from a
final judgment in an action or proceeding shall be perfected
within thirty days after the entry of judgment.
Sec. 1787.10. The municipal corporation, township, or
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county that forms a tourism promotion district shall contract
with a new or existing nonprofit corporation that is compliant
with division (A) or (B) of this section, as applicable, to act
as the district management association and administer or
implement the supplemental services and improvements described
in the district plan.
(A) In the case of a newly formed nonprofit corporation
designated as the district management association, the
certificate of incorporation or bylaws shall provide that at
least two-thirds of the total number of board members must be
lodging business owners whose lodging businesses are subject to
the tourism promotion district's benefit assessment, or the
agents of such owners.
(B) Where an existing nonprofit corporation is designated
as the district management association, the nonprofit
corporation's board of directors shall create a committee of
which at least two-thirds of the total number of board members
must be lodging business owners whose lodging businesses are
subject to the tourism promotion district's benefit assessment,
or the agents of such owners. The committee shall be charged
with managing benefit assessment funds and fulfilling the
obligations of the tourism promotion district plan.
(C) A district management association shall have full
discretion to select the specific supplemental services and
improvements within the authorized parameters of the tourism
promotion district plan that will be funded with tourism
promotion district benefit assessment revenue.
Sec. 1787.11. (A) The district management association
shall prepare a report for each fiscal year of the association
during which benefit assessments are levied and collected,
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except the first such year.
The district management association shall submit the
report to the auditor of state and the authorizing legislative
authority not more than ninety days after the conclusion of each
fiscal year that the report is required. The auditor of state
may require an annual financial audit of the district management
association.
(B) The report shall refer to the tourism promotion
district by name, specify the dates of the fiscal year to which
the report applies, and, with respect to that year, include all
of the following information:
(1) A review of the supplemental services and improvements
provided in the preceding fiscal year;
(2) The supplemental services and improvements to be
provided for the current fiscal year;
(3) The association's budget for the current fiscal year,
including an estimate of the cost of providing the supplemental
services and improvements for that year;
(4) The method and basis of levying the benefit
assessments in sufficient detail to allow each lodging business
owner to estimate the amount of the benefit assessment to be
levied against the owner's lodging business for that year;
(5) The estimated amount of any surplus revenues to be
carried over from the preceding fiscal year.
(C) The authorizing legislative authority may approve the
annual report as filed by the district management association or
may recommend modifications to the report within forty-five days
after receiving the report. The report shall be considered final
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and approved within ninety days following its submission by the
district management association to the authorizing legislative
authority.
Sec. 1787.12. (A) Subject to division (B) of this section,
all of the following apply:
(1) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter
and district management associations are not political
subdivisions, except for the purpose of section 4905.34 of the
Revised Code;
(2) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter
and district management associations shall be considered public
agencies under section 102.01 and public authorities under
section 4115.03 of the Revised Code;
(3) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter
and district management associations are not subject to sections
121.81 to 121.83 of the Revised Code;
(4) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter
and district management associations are subject to sections
121.22 and 121.23 of the Revised Code;
(5) All records of a tourism promotion district created
under this chapter and district management associations are
public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(B) An existing nonprofit corporation that enters a
contract to act as a district management association pursuant to
section 1787.10 of the Revised Code is only subject to division
(A) of this section when acting as a district management
association. Records of such a corporation are not public
records under section 149.43 or 149.431 of the Revised Code
solely by reason of the corporation's contract to act as a
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district management association, but all records of the
committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the
Revised Code are public records under section 149.43 of the
Revised Code.
(C) Subject to division (D) of this section, both of the
following apply:
(1) Membership on the board of directors of a district
management association shall not be considered as holding a
public office. However, each member of the board of directors of
a district management association described in division (A) of
section 1787.10 of the Revised Code and each member of a
committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the
Revised Code, each member's designee or proxy, and each officer
or employee of a district management association is a public
official or employee under section 102.01 and a public official
under section 2921.42 of the Revised Code. District management
association officers, members of a board of directors of a
district management association described in division (A) of
section 1787.10 of the Revised Code, and members of a committee
described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised
Code, and their designees or proxies, are not required to file a
statement with the Ohio ethics commission under section 102.02
of the Revised Code.
(2) Members of the board of directors of a district
management association described in division (A) of section
1787.10 of the Revised Code and members of a committee described
in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code and their
designees are entitled to the same immunity as an employee under
division (A)(6) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code, except
that directors and their designees are not entitled to the
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537 H. B. No. 138 Page 20
As Introduced
indemnification provided in section 2744.07 of the Revised Code
unless the director or designee is an employee or official of
the township, county, or municipal corporation whose legislative
authority formed the district and is acting within the scope of
the director's or designee's employment or official
responsibilities.
(D) Employees of an existing nonprofit corporation
designated as a district management association, and members of
a committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the
Revised Code, are public officials or employees under section
102.01 and public officials under section 2921.42 of the Revised
Code by virtue of their positions with the association only when
they act with respect to a purpose for which the district is
created and not when they act with respect to any other purpose
for which the corporation is organized.
Sec. 1787.13. (A) An authorizing legislative authority
may, by ordinance or resolution adopted on its own initiative,
dissolve a tourism promotion district established or renewed
pursuant to this chapter if no revenue bonds issued under
section 1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of that
district remain outstanding and either of the following are
true:
(1) The legislative authority finds there has been
misappropriation of funds from, or other malfeasance relating
to, the district;
(2) The legislative authority finds there has been a
violation of law in connection with the management of the
district.
(B) During each of the district management association's
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566 H. B. No. 138 Page 21
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fiscal years a tourism promotion district operates, excluding
the first two years, a majority of lodging business owners
subject to the benefit assessment may request, in writing, that
the authorizing legislative authority dissolve the tourism
promotion district pursuant to and subject to the requirements
of division (A) of this section. A request for dissolution from
lodging business owners shall be submitted during a thirty-day
period beginning on the first day of the district management
association's fiscal year.
Upon receipt of a written request submitted pursuant to
division (B) of this section, the authorizing legislative
authority shall adopt an ordinance or resolution stating that it
has received a valid request to dissolve the tourism promotion
district and it intends to consider the dissolution at a public
hearing. The ordinance or resolution shall state the reason for
the potential dissolution, the time and place of the public
hearing, and a proposal to dispose of any assets acquired with
the revenues of the benefit assessments levied within the
tourism promotion district.
The notice of the hearing on dissolution required by this
division shall be sent by the clerk of the legislative authority
to each lodging business owner subject to benefit assessments in
the tourism promotion district by ordinary mail. The legislative
authority shall conduct the public hearing not less than thirty
days after mailing the notice to the lodging business owners but
not more than sixty days after the adoption of the ordinance or
resolution stating that it intends to consider dissolution.
After the public hearing, the authorizing legislative authority
may adopt an ordinance or resolution dissolving the district.
(C) Upon the dissolution or expiration, without renewal,
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of a tourism promotion district, any remaining revenues, after
all outstanding debts are paid, derived from the levy of benefit
assessments or derived from the sale of assets acquired with the
revenues, shall be spent in accordance with the tourism
promotion district plan or shall be refunded to the owners of
the lodging businesses in proportion to the district's benefit
assessment remitted by each owner in the fiscal year in which
the district dissolves or expires.
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