HBA-KDB C.S.H.B. 1285 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1285
By: Brimer
Ways & Means
4/3/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller) can
only provide sales tax information on businesses that remit payments of
$100,000 or more to certain cities based on population.  Cities are in need
of sales tax information in the aggregate for a defined area to establish
benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of certain economic development
incentives as well as to apportion revenue under interlocal revenue sharing
agreements.  Such information may be useful to a municipality when
establishing its budget or making other considerations.  C.S.H.B. 1285
authorizes municipalities to request from the comptroller sales tax
information for each person doing business in a defined area.  The
information can only be provided by the comptroller as an aggregate total
for all persons doing business in the defined area without disclosing
individual tax payments. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1285 amends the Tax Code to require the comptroller of public
accounts (comptroller) on request to provide to a municipality that has
adopted a municipal sales and use tax (tax) with information relating to
the amount of tax paid to the municipality during the preceding or current
calendar year by each person doing business in an area, as defined by the
municipality, that is part of: 

 _an interlocal agreement;
 
 _a tax abatement agreement;
 
 _a reinvestment zone;
 
 _a tax increment financing district;
 
 _a revenue sharing agreement;
 
 _an enterprise zone;
 
 _a neighborhood empowerment zone; 
 
 _any other similar agreement, zone, or district; or

 _any area defined by the municipality for the purpose of economic
forecasting. 

The bill requires the comptroller to provide such information as an
aggregate total for all persons doing business in the defined area without
disclosing individual tax payments.  If the request for such information
involves not more than three persons doing business in the defined area
that remit taxes, the comptroller is authorized to refuse to provide the
information to the municipality if doing so could have the effect of
disclosing the proprietary sales information of those businesses.  The bill
authorizes such information to be used by the municipality to assist in
determining revenue sharing under a revenue sharing agreement or other
similar agreement. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1285 restores 275,000 as the maximum population of a municipality
for which the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller) on request is
required to provide certain tax information to a municipality that has
adopted a municipal sales and use tax (tax).   The substitute adds new
language to require the comptroller to provide information relating to the
amount of tax paid to the municipality as an aggregate total for all
persons doing business in the defined area without disclosing individual
tax payments.  The substitute authorizes such information to be used by the
municipality to assist in determining revenue sharing under a revenue
sharing agreement or other similar agreement.  The substitute adds new
language to authorize the comptroller, if the request for such information
involves not more than three persons doing business in the defined area
that remit taxes, to refuse to provide the information to the municipality
if doing so could have the effect of disclosing the proprietary sales
information of those businesses.  The bill increases the types of
municipally defined areas for which the comptroller of public accounts is
required to provide tax information to a municipality.