Bill Text: TX SB729 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-04 - Referred to Ways & Means [SB729 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB729-Engrossed.html

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By: Buckingham S.B. No. 729

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge
certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel
projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 351.102, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(b) An eligible central municipality, a municipality with a
population of 173,000 or more that is located within two or more
counties, a municipality with a population of 96,000 or more that is
located in a county that borders Lake Palestine or contains the
headwaters of the San Gabriel River, or a municipality with a
population of at least 99,900 but not more than 111,000 that is
located in a county with a population of at least 135,000 may pledge
the revenue derived from the tax imposed under this chapter from a
hotel project that is owned by or located on land owned by the
municipality or, in an eligible central municipality, by a
nonprofit corporation acting on behalf of an eligible central
municipality, and that is located within 1,000 feet of a convention
center facility owned by the municipality for the payment of bonds
or other obligations issued or incurred to acquire, lease,
construct, and equip the hotel and any facilities ancillary to the
hotel, including convention center entertainment-related
facilities, meeting spaces, restaurants, shops, street and water
and sewer infrastructure necessary for the operation of the hotel
or ancillary facilities, and parking facilities within 1,000 feet
of the hotel or convention center facility. For bonds or other
obligations issued under this subsection, an eligible central
municipality or a municipality described by this subsection or
Subsection (e) may only pledge revenue or other assets of the hotel
project benefiting from those bonds or other obligations.
(c) A municipality to which Subsection (b) or (e) applies is
entitled to receive all funds from a project described by this
section that an owner of a project may receive under Section
151.429(h) of this code, or Section 2303.5055, Government Code, and
may pledge the funds for the payment of obligations issued under
this section.
(d) Except as provided by this subsection, an eligible
central municipality or another municipality described by
Subsection (b) or (e) that uses revenue derived from the tax imposed
under this chapter or funds received under Subsection (c) for a
hotel project described by Subsection (b) may not reduce the
percentage of revenue from the tax imposed under this chapter and
allocated for a purpose described by Section 351.101(a)(3) to a
percentage that is less than the average percentage of that revenue
allocated by the municipality for that purpose during the 36-month
period preceding the date the municipality begins using the revenue
or funds for the hotel project. This subsection does not apply to
an eligible central municipality described by Section
351.001(7)(D).
(e) In addition to the municipalities described by
Subsection (b), that subsection also applies to a municipality with
a population of at least 110,000 but not more than 135,000 at least
part of which is located in a county with a population of not more
than 135,000.
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, 2017.