82R4497 NAJ-F
By: Williams S.B. No. 397
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the East Montgomery County Improvement District;
imposing a tax.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 3846.001(3), Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(3) "Venue" means:
(A) an arena, coliseum, stadium, or other type of
area or facility:
(i) that is used or is planned for use for
one or more professional or amateur sports events, community
events, or other sports events, including rodeos, livestock shows,
agricultural expositions, promotional events, and other civic or
charitable events; and
(ii) for which a fee for admission to the
events is charged or is planned to be charged; or
(B) a convention center facility or related
improvement such as a convention center, civic center, civic center
building, civic center hotel, auditorium, theater, opera house,
music hall, exhibition hall, rehearsal hall, park, zoological park,
museum, aquarium, tourist development area along an inland
waterway, or plaza.
SECTION 2. Section 3846.103(b), Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A district improvement project or service may include:
(1) the construction, acquisition, lease, rental,
installment purchase, improvement, rehabilitation, repair,
relocation, and operation of:
(A) landscaping; lighting, banners, or signs;
streets or sidewalks, pedestrian or bicycle paths and trails;
pedestrian walkways, skywalks, crosswalks, or tunnels; highway
right-of-way or transit corridor beautification and improvements;
(B) drainage or storm water detention
improvements and solid waste, water, sewer, or power facilities and
services, including electrical, gas, steam, and chilled water
facilities and services;
(C) parks, lakes, gardens, recreational
facilities, open space, scenic areas, and related exhibits and
preserves; fountains, plazas, or pedestrian malls; public art or
sculpture and related exhibits and facilities; educational or
cultural exhibits and facilities; exhibits, displays, attractions,
or facilities for special events, holidays, or seasonal or cultural
celebrations;
(D) off-street parking facilities, bus
terminals, heliports, mass-transit, or roadway-borne or
water-borne transportation systems; [and]
(E) other public improvements, facilities, or
services similar to the improvements, facilities, or services
described by Paragraphs (A)-(D); and
(F) a venue project authorized by Section
3846.301;
(2) the cost of removal, razing, demolition, or
clearing of land or improvements in connection with providing an
improvement project;
(3) the acquisition of property or an interest in the
property that is made in connection with an authorized improvement
project; and
(4) the provision of special or supplemental services
to improve or promote the area in the district or to protect the
public health and safety in the district, including advertising,
promotion, tourism, health and sanitation, public safety,
security, fire protection or emergency medical services, business
recruitment, development, elimination of traffic congestion, and
recreational, educational, or cultural improvements, enhancements,
or services.
SECTION 3. Section 3846.264(f), Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(f) If a political subdivision, including a municipality,
imposes or increases the rate of the political subdivision's [a]
sales and use tax in the development zone and the imposition or
increase causes the combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by
political subdivisions in the development zone to exceed the
maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
subdivisions that is prescribed by Section 323.101(d), Tax Code,
the political subdivision's sales and use tax [authorized by this
section] is reduced to a rate that, when added to the rates of
existing sales and use taxes imposed in [as of the date] the
development zone, equals the maximum combined rate prescribed by
that section [authorized the sales and use tax so that the combined
total of all local sales and use taxes imposed in the development
zone does not exceed two percent].
SECTION 4. Subchapter G, Chapter 3846, Special District
Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 3846.304 to read as
follows:
Sec. 3846.304. PUBLIC PURPOSE OF VENUE PROJECT. (a) The
legislature finds for all constitutional and statutory purposes
that a venue project is owned, used, and held for public purposes by
the district.
(b) Section 25.07(a), Tax Code, does not apply to a
leasehold or other possessory interest granted by the district
while the district owns the venue project.
(c) The project is exempt from taxation under Section 11.11,
Tax Code, while the district owns the venue project.
(d) If approval and implementation of a resolution under
this chapter results in the removal from a school district's
property tax rolls of real property otherwise subject to ad valorem
taxation, the operator of the venue project located on that real
property shall pay to the school district on January 1 of each year
in which the project is in operation and in which the real property
is exempt from ad valorem taxation an amount equal to the ad valorem
taxes that would otherwise have been levied for the preceding tax
year on that real property by the school district, without
including the value of any improvements. This subsection does not
apply if the operator of the project is a political subdivision of
this state.
SECTION 5. Subchapter J, Chapter 3846, Special District
Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 3846.4535 to read as
follows:
Sec. 3846.4535. CONTINUING AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE HOTEL
OCCUPANCY TAX NOT LIMITED. (a) Except as provided by Section
3846.456, the district may impose a hotel occupancy tax under this
subchapter on any hotel located in the district, including a hotel
located on property added under Section 3846.107.
(b) The imposition of a hotel occupancy tax in the district
by a political subdivision, including a county or municipality,
does not diminish or limit the district's authority to impose the
hotel occupancy tax authorized by this subchapter.
SECTION 6. Section 3846.155(c), Special District Local Laws
Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor,
lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
within the required time.
(d) The general law relating to consent by political
subdivisions to the creation of districts with conservation,
reclamation, and road powers and the inclusion of land in those
districts has been complied with.
(e) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act have been
fulfilled and accomplished.
SECTION 8. 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, 2011.