By: Isaac H.B. No. 4660
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in
certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 351, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 351.10693, Tax Code, to read as follows:
Sec. 351.10693. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE: CERTAIN
MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to a municipality
with a population of less than 3,000 through which the Blanco River
flows and is located in a county that:
(1) is adjacent to the county in which the State Capitol
is located; and
(2) has a population of at least 250,000.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the
municipal hotel occupancy tax for the promotion and preservation of
dark skies through construction and maintenance of infrastructure
and the purchase and installation of hardware that reduces light
pollution and sky glow.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the
municipal hotel occupancy tax for promotional and event expenses
for an ecological tourism event, including an event for which the
primary attraction is traveling to an area of natural or ecological
interest for the purpose of observing and learning about wildlife
and the area's natural environment, if:
(1) a majority of the event's participants are
tourists; and
(2) the event substantially increases economic
activity at hotels and motels within or in the vicinity of the
municipality.
(d) A municipality that uses revenue from the municipal hotel
occupancy tax for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or (c):
(1) shall determine the amount of area hotel revenue
attributable to events and activities related to those purposes for
five years after the date the municipality first uses hotel
occupancy tax revenue for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or
(c); and
(2) may not spend municipal hotel occupancy tax
revenue for the purposes described by Subsection (b) and (c) in a
total amount that exceeds the amount determined under Subdivision
(1).
(e) A municipality may not spend more than 25 percent of the
municipality's annual hotel occupancy tax revenue for the purposes
described by Subsection (b) and (c).
(d) A municipality to which this section applies may not
reduce the amount of revenue that it uses for a purpose described by
Section 351.101(a)(3) to an amount that is less than the average
amount of revenue used by the municipality for that purpose during
the 36-month period that precedes the municipality's use of revenue
under Subsection (b) or (c).
SECTION ____. 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, 2023.