| (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.
(ii) The designation of the project financing zone
must include the longitude and latitude of the center of the qualified
project.
(C) The municipality is entitled to receive the incremental
hotel-associated revenue from hotels located in the project financing
zone beginning the first day of the year after the year of the zone's
date of designation.
(i) Payments of the incremental hotel-associated revenue
end on the last day of the month during which the designation of a
project financing zone expires.
(ii) The designation of a project financing zone expires
not later than 30 years from the anniversary month in which the zone
was designated.
(D) Beginning the first day of the year after the year
of the zone's date of designation, the comptroller shall deposit incremental
hotel-associated revenue collected or received in a separate trust
account.
(i) Payments from the trust account to the municipality
begin on the date a qualified project has commenced and the municipality
has provided the comptroller with the documentation required under
paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(ii) If the qualified project has not commenced by
the fifth anniversary of the first deposit to the account, the comptroller
shall stop making deposits and transfer the money in the account to
the general revenue fund.
(iii) The comptroller may estimate the amount of incremental
hotel-associated revenue that will be deposited for the calendar year
and deposit that amount to the trust account. The calculation of the
estimated incremental hotel-associated revenue is based on the base
year amount, less the previous year revenue amount for year one revenue
estimates. The next year's incremental difference is based on the
revenue from the previous year and the base year. The municipality
may request disbursements on a monthly basis based on the estimate.
The comptroller must adjust deposits and disbursements to reflect
the amount of revenue actually deposited at the end of each calendar
year.
(iv) A municipality must notify the comptroller if
a qualified project is abandoned. The comptroller shall transfer to
the general revenue fund the amount of money in the trust account
that exceeds the amount needed for payment of bonds or other obligations
issued or incurred under subparagraphs (A) and (C) of this paragraph.
(c) Qualified hotel projects.
(1) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this subsection, shall have the following meanings, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(A) Convention center facilities--Facilities that are
primarily used to host conventions and meetings. The term means civic
centers, civic center buildings, auditoriums, exhibition halls, and
coliseums that are owned by the municipality or other governmental
entity or that are managed in whole or part by the municipality. The
term includes parking areas or facilities that are for the parking
or storage of conveyances and that are located at or in the vicinity
of other convention center facilities.
(B) Eligible tax proceeds--Local ad valorem taxes,
local sales and use taxes, local hotel occupancy taxes, local mixed
beverage gross receipts taxes, and local mixed beverage sales taxes
that are generated, paid, or collected by a qualified hotel project,
or facilities ancillary to the hotel, and that may be rebated, refunded,
or paid to the owner of a qualified hotel project under an agreement
with a municipality, county, or other governmental entity.
(C) Facility ancillary to the hotel--A facility located
within 1,000 feet of a convention center facility owned by a municipality,
as measured from the closest exterior wall of the ancillary facility
in a single-tenant building or closest demising wall of the ancillary
facility in a multi-tenant building to the closest exterior wall of
the convention center facility, that is located in a qualified hotel
project, and which provides necessary support for the operation and
function of the hotel. Surface parking lot facilities must be located
within 1,000 feet of the convention center facility, as measured from
the closest marked parking space of a surface parking lot facility
to the closest exterior wall of the convention center facility. Surface
parking lot facilities intersected by a public road or thoroughfare
are considered separate parking facilities. Only a parking lot facility
that contains a marked parking space within 1,000 feet of the convention
center facility will be eligible for rebates. The term includes facilities
ancillary to a hotel that are part of the hotel project but that may
be completed in different phases of the hotel project as evidenced
by documentation listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The term
does not include existing facilities located within 1,000 feet of
the convention center facility that were not constructed, developed,
or remodeled as part of the qualified hotel project.
(D) Governmental body--A local governmental body with
the authority to impose taxes.
Cont'd... |
