| (a) 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 entertainment-related facilities--Facilities
owned by or located on land owned by the municipality or the nonprofit
corporation acting on behalf of an eligible central municipality,
and designed and primarily used for convention center events, activities,
and performances. Examples of this term are a performance hall, permanent
or temporary stage, amphitheater, and pavilion. The term does not
include facilities designed for a specific use. Examples of facilities
that do not meet this definition include an amusement park, fitness
or sports center, museum, sports venue, waterpark, or zoo.
(B) Convention center facilities--Facilities 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.
(i) 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.
(ii) The term also means:
(I) a hotel owned by or located on land that is owned
by an eligible central 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;
or
(II) a hotel that is owned in part by an eligible central
municipality described by subparagraph (C)(iv) of this paragraph and
that is located within 1,000 feet of a convention center facility.
(iii) For the purpose of this subparagraph, "meetings"
means gatherings of people that enhance and promote tourism and the
convention and hotel industry.
(C) Eligible central municipality--
(i) A municipality with a population of more than 140,000
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 construction or expansion of a convention center facility;
(ii) a municipality with a population of 250,000 or
more that:
(I) is located wholly or partly on a barrier island
that borders the Gulf of Mexico;
(II) is located in a county with a population of 300,000
or more; and
(III) has adopted a capital improvement plan to expand
an existing convention center facility;
(iii) a municipality with a population of 116,000 or
more that:
(I) is located in two counties both of which have a
population of 660,000 or more; and
(II) has adopted a capital improvement plan for the
construction or expansion of a convention center facility;
(iv) a municipality with a population of less than
50,000 that contains a general academic teaching institution that
is not a component institution of a university system, as those terms
are defined by Education Code, §61.003 (Definitions); or
(v) a municipality with a population of 640,000 or
more that:
(I) is located on an international border; and
(II) has adopted a capital improvement plan for the
construction or expansion of a convention center facility.
(D) 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 body.
(E) Facility ancillary to the hotel--A facility owned
by or located on land owned by a municipality or, for an eligible
central municipality, a nonprofit corporation acting on its behalf
that provides necessary support for the operation and function of
the hotel, and that is:
(i) located within 1,000 feet of a convention center
facility owned by the municipality or hotel, 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
or hotel; and
(ii) located in a hotel project owned by or located
on land owned by:
(I) an eligible central municipality or a nonprofit
organization acting on behalf of an eligible central municipality;
(II) a municipality with a population of 173,000 or
more that is located within two or more counties, including a hotel
project not owned by or located on land owned by the municipality
if the project is located on land that is owned by the federal government;
(III) a municipality with a population of 96,000 or
more that is located in a county that borders Lake Palestine;
(IV) a municipality with a population of 96,000 or
more that contains the headwaters of the San Gabriel River;
(V) a municipality with a population of at least 99,900
but not more than 111,000 that is located in a county with a population
of at least 135,000;
(VI) a municipality with a population of at least 110,000
but not more than 135,000 at least part of which is located in a county
with a population of not more than 135,000;
(VII) a municipality with a population of at least
9,000 but not more than 10,000 that is located in two counties, each
of which has a population of at least 662,000 and a southern border
with a county with a population of 2.3 million or more;
(VIII) a municipality with a population of at least
200,000 but not more than 300,000 that contains a component institution
of the Texas Tech University System;
(IX) a municipality with a population of at least 95,000
that borders Lake Lewisville;
(X) a municipality that:
(-a-) contains a portion of Cedar Hill State Park;
(-b-) has a population of more than 45,000;
(-c-) is located in two counties, one of which has
a population of more than two million and one of which has a population
of more than 149,000; and
(-d-) has adopted a capital improvement plan for the
construction or expansion of a convention center facility;
(XI) a municipality with a population of less than
6,000 that:
(-a-) is located in two counties each with a population
of 600,000 or more that are both adjacent to a county with a population
of two million or more;
(-b-) has full-time police and fire departments; and
(-c-) has adopted a capital improvement plan for the
construction or expansion of a convention center facility;
(XII) a municipality with a population of at least
56,000 that:
(-a-) borders Lake Ray Hubbard; and
(-b-) is located in two counties, one of which has
a population of less than 80,000;
(XIII) a municipality with a population of more than
83,000, that borders Clear Lake, and that is primarily located in
a county with a population of less than 300,000;
(XIV) a municipality with a population of less than
2,000 that:
(-a-) is located adjacent to a bay connected to the
Gulf of Mexico;
(-b-) is located in a county with a population of 290,000
or more that is adjacent to a county with a population of four million
or more; and
(-c-) has a boardwalk on the bay;
(XV) a municipality with a population of 75,000 or
more that:
(-a-) is located wholly in one county with a population
of 575,000 or more that is adjacent to a county with a population
of four million or more; and
(-b-) has adopted a capital improvement plan for the
construction or expansion of a convention center facility;
(XVI) a municipality with a population of less than
75,000 that is located in three counties, at least one of which has
a population of at least four million; or
(XVII) a home-rule municipality that borders the Gulf
of Mexico with a population of more than 3,000 but less than 5,000.
(iii) The term includes convention center entertainment-related
facilities, meeting spaces, restaurants, shops, street and water and
sewer infrastructure necessary for the operation of the hotel or ancillary
facilities, and parking facilities.
(I) Surface parking lot facilities must be located
within 1,000 feet of the convention center facility or hotel, as measured
from the closest marked parking space of a surface parking lot facility
to the closest exterior wall of the convention center facility or
hotel. 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 or hotel will be eligible for
rebates.
(II) 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 hotel or convention center
facility that were not constructed, developed, or remodeled as part
of the hotel project.
(F) Governmental body--A local governmental body with
the authority to impose taxes.
(G) Hotel and Convention Center Project--A project
that is an existing hotel owned by the municipality or another person
and a convention center facility to be acquired, constructed, equipped,
or leased, that will be located within 1,000 feet of the hotel, and
that will be owned by or located on land owned by the municipality.
This subparagraph applies only to a municipality that:
(i) is the county seat of a county that:
(I) borders the United Mexican States;
(II) has a population of less than 300,000; and
(III) contains one or more municipalities with a population
of 200,000 or more; and
(ii) holds an annual jalapeño festival.
(H) Hotel Project--A hotel that is owned by or located
on land owned by a municipality or, for an eligible central municipality,
a nonprofit corporation acting on its behalf, and located within 1,000
feet of a convention center facility owned by the municipality, as
measured by the closest exterior wall of the hotel and the closest
exterior wall of the convention center facility. The parking lot is
not part of a convention center facility for the purpose of measuring
the 1,000-foot distance requirement. The term includes a facility
ancillary to the hotel as defined in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph.
(I) Open for initial occupancy--The earliest date on
which a member of the public obtains sleeping accommodations for consideration
and the convention center is operational, as supported by records
of the hotel and convention center.
(J) Shop--A retail store that exclusively sells tangible
personal property.
(K) Tangible personal property--Personal property that
can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched or that is perceptible
to the senses in any other manner, and includes a computer program
and a telephone prepaid calling card.
(2) Requirements to initiate a request for rebate,
refund, or payment of taxes for a hotel project.
(A) A municipality identified in paragraph (1)(E)(ii)
and (G) of this subsection seeking a refund from the comptroller of
state sales and use taxes, state hotel occupancy taxes, and eligible
tax proceeds must submit a written request to the comptroller's Audit
Division along with the following information, as applicable:
(i) a copy of the certificate of formation for the
nonprofit corporation acting on behalf of an eligible central municipality;
(ii) a copy of the municipality's capital improvement
plan;
(iii) a copy of the municipality's ordinance or resolution
approving the rebate agreement between the municipality or nonprofit
corporation acting on behalf of an eligible central municipality,
and the hotel project;
(iv) a copy of the architect's plan for the hotel project;
(v) a map that shows the required distances between
the hotel project, including facilities ancillary to the hotel, and
the convention center facility;
(vi) records from the hotel, convention center, and
municipality, such as guest folios and press releases, which show
the date when the project was open for initial occupancy;
(vii) the name and address of the hotel and the comptroller-issued
taxpayer identification and location numbers that the hotel is using,
or will use, to report sales and use tax, hotel occupancy tax, mixed
beverage gross receipts tax, and mixed beverage sales tax;
(viii) the name and comptroller-issued taxpayer identification
and location numbers of each facility ancillary to the hotel;
Cont'd... |
