S.B. No. 1247

	AN ACT
	relating to the imposition and use of the municipal hotel occupancy
	tax by certain eligible central municipalities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subdivision (7), Section 351.001, Tax Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(7)  "Eligible central municipality" means a
	municipality with a population of more than 140,000 [440,000] but
	less than 1.5 million that is located in a county with a population
	of one million or more and that has adopted a capital improvement
	plan for the expansion of an existing convention center facility.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 351.003, Tax Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  The rate in an eligible central municipality may not
	exceed nine percent of the price paid for a room. This subsection
	does not apply to a municipality to which Section 351.106 applies or
	to an eligible central municipality with a population of less than
	440,000.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  Subsection (a), Section 351.101, 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; 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)  signage directing the public to sights and
	attractions that are visited frequently by hotel guests in the
	municipality.
	(b)  This section takes effect immediately if this Act
	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 section takes effect September 1, 2009.
	SECTION 4.  Subsections (b) and (c), Section 351.102, Tax
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(b)  An eligible central municipality 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 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, restaurants, shops, 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 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) 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.
	SECTION 5.  Subsection (b), Section 1504.001, Government
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  An eligible central municipality, as defined by Section
	351.001, Tax Code, may establish, acquire, lease as lessee or
	lessor, construct, improve, enlarge, equip, repair, operate, or
	maintain a hotel, and any facilities ancillary to the hotel,
	including convention center entertainment-related facilities,
	restaurants, shops, and parking facilities, that are owned by or
	located on land owned by the municipality or by a nonprofit
	corporation acting on behalf of the municipality, and that are [is]
	located within 1,000 feet of a hotel or a convention center facility
	owned by the municipality.
	SECTION 6.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to revenue derived from the tax to which this section applies that
	is pledged on or after the effective date of this Act. Revenue
	pledged before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
	in effect when the revenue was pledged, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 7.  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1247 passed the Senate on
	April 2, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 30, 2009, by the
	following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1247 passed the House, with
	amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 138,
	Nays 10, one present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor