HBA-CBW H.B. 1886 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1886 By: Coleman Ways & Means 3/15/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law allows a hotel occupancy tax to be collected by certain municipalities with tax rate ceilings set according to population. At present, an "eligible municipality" is defined as a municipality with a population of at least 1,200,000 and that has adopted by ordinance a capital improvement plan for convention and exposition facilities for the municipality. There are no longer any cities in the state that fit the definition of an "eligible municipality." However, language relating to such municipalities still remains in the law, leading to some confusion. House Bill 1886 removes the definition of "eligible municipality" and modifies the definition of "eligible central municipality." 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 House Bill 1886 amends the Tax Code relating to the collection of municipal hotel occupancy taxes to remove the definition of "eligible municipality," and to modify the definition of "eligible central municipality" to mean a municipality with a population of more than 440,000 but less than 1.5 million located in a county with a population of one million or more and that adopted a capital improvement plan for the expansion of an existing convention center facility (Sec. 351.001). The bill provides that the portion of the tax revenue allocated for advertising and promotional purposes by a municipality with a population of more than 1.6 million may not be less than 23 percent, rather than may not exceed 75 percent, except that the allocation is subject to and may not impair the authority of the municipality to pledge all or any portion of that tax revenue to the payment of bonds (Sec. 351.103). The bill removes provisions relating to an "eligible municipality." EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.