Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4660 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 4660
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in
6	6	certain municipalities.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 351, Tax Code, is amended
9	9	by adding Section 351.10693 to read as follows:
10	10	Sec. 351.10693. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE: CERTAIN
11	11	MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to a municipality:
12	12	(1) with a population of less than 3,000;
13	13	(2) through which the Blanco River flows; and
14	14	(3) that is located in a county that:
15	15	(A) is adjacent to the county in which the State
16	16	Capitol is located; and
17	17	(B) has a population of at least 250,000.
18	18	(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
19	19	municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the
20	20	municipal hotel occupancy tax for the promotion and preservation of
21	21	dark skies through construction and maintenance of infrastructure
22	22	and the purchase and installation of hardware that reduces light
23	23	pollution and sky glow.
24	24	(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
25	25	municipality to which this section applies may use revenue from the
26	26	municipal hotel occupancy tax for promotional and event expenses
27	27	for an ecological tourism event, including an event for which the
28	28	primary attraction is traveling to an area of natural or ecological
29	29	interest for the purpose of observing and learning about wildlife
30	30	and the area's natural environment, if:
31	31	(1) a majority of the event's participants are
32	32	tourists; and
33	33	(2) the event substantially increases economic
34	34	activity at hotels and motels within or in the vicinity of the
35	35	municipality.
36	36	(d) A municipality that uses revenue from the municipal
37	37	hotel occupancy tax for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or
38	38	(c):
39	39	(1) shall determine the amount of area hotel revenue
40	40	attributable to events and activities related to those purposes for
41	41	five years after the date the municipality first uses hotel
42	42	occupancy tax revenue for a purpose described by Subsection (b) or
43	43	(c); and
44	44	(2) may not spend municipal hotel occupancy tax
45	45	revenue for the purposes described by Subsections (b) and (c) in a
46	46	total amount that exceeds the amount determined under Subdivision
47	47	(1).
48	48	(e) A municipality may not spend more than 25 percent of the
49	49	municipality's annual hotel occupancy tax revenue for the purposes
50	50	described by Subsections (b) and (c).
51	51	(f) A municipality to which this section applies may not
52	52	reduce the amount of revenue that the municipality uses for a
53	53	purpose described by Section 351.101(a)(3) to an amount that is
54	54	less than the average amount of revenue used by the municipality for
55	55	that purpose during the 36-month period that precedes the
56	56	municipality's use of revenue under Subsection (b) or (c).
57	57	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
58	58	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
59	59	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
60	60	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
61	61	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
62	62	______________________________ ______________________________
63	63	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
64	64	I certify that H.B. No. 4660 was passed by the House on May 2,
65	65	2023, by the following vote: Yeas 116, Nays 28, 3 present, not
66	66	voting.
67	67	______________________________
68	68	Chief Clerk of the House
69	69	I certify that H.B. No. 4660 was passed by the Senate on May
70	70	24, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6.
71	71	______________________________
72	72	Secretary of the Senate
73	73	APPROVED: _____________________
74	74	Date
75	75	_____________________
76	76	Governor