| (ii) a hotel owned by or located on land owned by an
eligible central municipality or a nonprofit organization 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.
(D) Date of designation--The date a municipality by
ordinance or agreement under Local Government Code, Chapter 380 (Miscellaneous
Provisions Relating to Municipal Planning and Development) designates
a project financing zone.
(E) Hotel-associated revenue--The amount of tax revenue
that is the sum of the following:
(i) state sales and use taxes and state hotel occupancy
taxes collected from all hotels located in a project financing zone,
excluding the state tax revenue received from a qualified hotel project
that exists on the zone's date of designation; and
(ii) the mixed beverage gross receipts tax and mixed
beverage sales tax revenue collected from all mixed beverage permittees
at hotels located in the project financing zone, excluding the local
mixed beverage taxes disbursed to the municipality under Tax Code, §183.051
(Mixed Beverage Tax Clearance Fund).
(F) Incremental hotel-associated revenue--The amount
of hotel-associated revenue received in any calendar year from hotels
located within a project financing zone, including hotel-associated
revenue from hotels built in the project financing zone after the
year in which a municipality designates the zone, that exceeds the
base year amount. After the hotel project's 10-year state tax rebate
period expires, the hotel-associated revenue received from a hotel
located in a hotel project that existed on the zone's date of designation
is included in incremental hotel-associated revenue, but not included
in the base year amount.
(G) Project financing zone--An area within a municipality:
(i) that the municipality by ordinance or by agreement
under Local Government Code, Chapter 380, designates as a project
financing zone;
(ii) the boundaries of which are within a three-mile
radius of the center of a qualified project;
(iii) the designation of which specifies the longitude
and latitude of the center of the qualified project; and
(iv) the designation of which expires not later than
the 30th anniversary of the date of designation.
(H) Qualified project--
(i) A convention center facility; or
(ii) a multipurpose arena or venue that includes a
livestock facility and is located within or adjacent to a recognized
cultural district, and any related infrastructure, that is:
(I) located on land owned by a municipality or by the
owner of the venue;
(II) partially financed by private contributions that
equal not less than 40% of the project costs; and
(III) related to the promotion of tourism and the convention
and hotel industry.
(I) Related infrastructure--The term includes any store,
restaurant, on-site hotel, concession, automobile parking facility,
area transportation facility, road, street, water or sewer facility,
park, or other on-site or off-site improvement that relates to and
enhances the use, value, or appeal of a venue, including areas adjacent
to the venue, and any other expenditure reasonably necessary to construct,
improve, renovate, or expand a venue, including an expenditure for
environmental remediation.
(J) Venue--
(i) an arena, coliseum, stadium, or other type of area
or facility:
(I) that is used or is planned for use for one or more
professional or amateur sports events, community events, or other
sports events, including rodeos, livestock shows, agricultural expositions,
promotional events, and other civic or charitable events; and
(II) for which a fee for admission to the events is
charged or is planned to be charged;
(ii) a convention center, convention center facility,
or related improvement, such as a civic center hotel, theater, opera
house, music hall, rehearsal hall, park, zoological park, museum,
aquarium, or plaza, located in the vicinity of a convention center
or convention center facility owned by a municipality or a county;
(iii) a tourist development area along an inland waterway;
(iv) a municipal parks and recreation system, or improvements
or additions to a parks and recreation system, or an area or facility
that is part of a municipal parks and recreation system;
(v) a project authorized by Section 4A or 4B, Development
Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
as that Act existed on September 1, 1997; and
(vi) a watershed protection and preservation project;
a recharge, recharge area, or recharge feature protection project;
a conservation easement; or an open-space preservation program intended
to protect water.
(2) Requirements to initiate a request for rebate,
refund, or payment of taxes for a qualified project located in a project
financing zone.
(A) The municipality must submit a written request
to the comptroller's Audit Division along with the following information,
as applicable:
(i) a copy of the approval from the municipality of
the project financing zone's designation;
(ii) documentation showing that the qualified project
has commenced;
(iii) a map that shows the boundaries of the project
financing zone and identifies all active hotels located within those
boundaries;
(iv) the name and address of each hotel located within
the project financing zone along with the comptroller-issued taxpayer
identification and location numbers that each hotel is using to report
sales and use tax, hotel occupancy tax, mixed beverage gross receipts
tax, and mixed beverage sales tax;
(v) the names and comptroller-issued taxpayer identification
and location numbers for all shops, parking facilities, and other
facilities that are located in hotels within a project financing zone;
(vi) when there are fewer than four taxpayers with
active sales and use tax permits or mixed beverage permits operating
within a project financing zone, a waiver of confidentiality release
signed by the authorized officer or director from each sales and use
tax permittee and mixed beverage tax permittee located at a hotel
in the project financing zone allowing the comptroller to release
the sales and use tax and mixed beverage sales tax information to
the municipality. A waiver of confidentiality release must be renewed
annually, unless it specifically states a longer period not to exceed
three years;
(vii) the name and telephone numbers of the contact
person with the municipality; and
(viii) a completed direct deposit authorization form
from the municipality.
(B) If a municipality designates one project financing
zone in which multiple qualified projects are located, the comptroller
will consider the boundaries of the project-financing zone to be a
distance of a three-mile radius from the center of each of the qualified
projects.
(i) The hotel-associated revenue collected from all
hotels located in the project financing zone shall be included in
the zone's incremental hotel-associated revenue.
(ii) Payments to the municipality under clause (i)
of this subparagraph will begin on the date the municipality notifies
the comptroller in writing that the first qualified project has commenced.
(C) The comptroller will give the requestor written
notice of the results of the request to initiate rebate, refund, or
payment of taxes for a qualified project in a project financing zone.
(3) Tax rebates for qualified projects located in project
financing zones.
(A) A municipality with a population of at least 650,000
but less than 750,000, according to the most recent federal decennial
census, or a municipality with a population of 1,180,000 or more that
is located predominantly in a county that has a total area of less
than 1,000 square miles and that has adopted a council-manager form
of government, may pledge incremental hotel-associated revenue received
from hotels located in a project financing zone for the payment of
bonds and obligations issued to acquire, lease, construct, improve,
enlarge, and equip a qualified project.
(B) The municipality may designate a project financing
zone. The municipality must notify the comptroller of the designation
of the project financing zone not later than the 30 days after the
date the municipality designates the project financing zone.
(i) The boundaries of a project financing zone must
be within a three-mile radius of the center of a qualified project
and must be within the corporate limits of the municipality.
Cont'd... |
