H.B. No. 1789
AN ACT
relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue to
enhance and upgrade sports facilities, coliseums, and multiuse
facilities in certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 351.101(a), Tax Code, 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; [and]
(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, and flag football, 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 65,000 but
not more than 70,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 155,000 or less; [or]
(iii) has a population of at least 34,000
but not more than 36,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 90,000 or less;
(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 65,000 but
less than 80,000 and no part of which is located in a county with a
population greater than 150,000; or
(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; 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; and
(8) for a municipality with a population of at least
65,000 but less than 80,000, 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.
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, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1789 was passed by the House on April
28, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 149, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1789 on May 21, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 5,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1789 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 18, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor