Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain municipalities.

89(R) SB 1854 - Senate Committee Report version - Bill Text

By: West

S.B. No. 1854

(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2025; March 17, 2025, read

first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;

April 28, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,

Nays 0; April 28, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue by

certain municipalities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 351.101(a), Tax Code, is amended to read

as follows:

(a) Revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be

used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry,

and that use is limited to the following:

(1) the acquisition of sites for and the construction,

improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and

maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information

centers, or both;

(2) the furnishing of facilities, personnel, and

materials for the registration of convention delegates or

registrants;

(3) advertising and conducting solicitations and

promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates

or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity;

(4) the encouragement, promotion, improvement, and

application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal music,

dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, design and

allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft

arts, motion pictures, radio, television, tape and sound recording,

and other arts related to the presentation, performance, execution,

and exhibition of these major art forms;

(5) historical restoration and preservation projects

or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and

promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention

delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums:

(A) at or in the immediate vicinity of convention

center facilities or visitor information centers; or

(B) located elsewhere in the municipality or its

vicinity that would be frequented by tourists and convention

delegates;

(6) expenses, including promotion expenses, directly

related to a sporting event in which the majority of participants

are tourists who substantially increase economic activity at hotels

and motels within the municipality or its vicinity if:

(A) the municipality is located in a county with

a population of one million or less;

(B) the municipality has a population of more

than 67,000 and is located in two counties with 90 percent of the

municipality's territory located in a county with a population of

at least 800,000, and the remaining territory located in a county

with a population of at least four million; [
or
]

(C) the municipality has a population of at least

200,000 and shares a border with:

(i) a municipality with a population of at

least 62,000 that:

(a) borders Lake Ray Hubbard; and

(b) is located in two counties, one of

which has a population of less than 110,000; and

(ii) Lake Ray Hubbard;
or

(D)

the sporting event is conducted at a facility

located in and owned by a municipality:

(i)

located in a county with a population of

2.2 million or more and that is adjacent to a county with a

population of more than 850,000; and

(ii) with a population of:

(a)

more than 51,000 but less than

57,000; or

(b)

less than 1.3 million and that is

bisected by Interstate Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 67;

(7) subject to Section 351.1076, the promotion of

tourism by the enhancement and upgrading of existing sports

facilities or fields if:

(A) the municipality owns the facilities or

fields;

(B) the municipality:

(i) has a population of 80,000 or more and

is located in a county that has a population of 610,000 or less;

(ii) has a population of at least 80,000 but

not more than 125,000 and is located in a county that has a

population of less than 240,000 but more than 233,500;

(iii) has:

(a) a population of at least 10,000

and is located in a county that has a population of more than 70,000

and borders Lake Livingston; or

(b) a population of 36,000 or more and

is located in a county with a population of less than 95,000 that

borders Oklahoma;

(iv) has a population of at least 13,000 but

less than 48,000 and is located in a county that has a population of

at least 200,000;

(v) has a population of at least 70,000 but

less than 90,000 and no part of which is located in a county with a

population greater than 150,000;

(vi) is located in a county that:

(a) is adjacent to the Texas-Mexico

border;

(b) has a population of at least

500,000; and

(c) does not have a municipality with

a population greater than 500,000;

(vii) is located in a county that has a

population of 100,000 or less and the municipality has a population

of:

(a) more than 24,400 and less than

25,000; or

(b) more than 28,150 and less than

31,000;

(viii) is located in a county that has a

population of not more than 300,000 and in which a component

university of the University of Houston System is located;

(ix) has a population of at least 40,000 and

the San Marcos River flows through the municipality;

(x) has a population of more than 67,000 and

is located in two counties with 90 percent of the municipality's

territory located in a county with a population of at least 800,000,

and the remaining territory located in a county with a population of

at least four million;

(xi) contains an intersection of

Interstates 35E and 35W and at least two public universities; or

(xii) is described by Subdivision (6)(C);

and

(C) the sports facilities and fields have been

used, in the preceding calendar year, a combined total of more than

10 times for district, state, regional, or national sports

tournaments;

(8) for a municipality with a population of at least

70,000 but less than 90,000, no part of which is located in a county

with a population greater than 150,000, the construction,

improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and

maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility;

(9) signage directing the public to sights and

attractions that are visited frequently by hotel guests in the

municipality;

(10) the construction, improvement, enlarging,

equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of a coliseum or

multiuse facility, if the municipality:

(A) has a population of at least 90,000 but less

than 120,000; and

(B) is located in two counties, at least one of

which contains the headwaters of the San Gabriel River; and

(11) for a municipality with a population of more than

175,000 but less than 225,000 that is located in two counties, each

of which has a population of less than 200,000, the construction,

improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and

maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility and related

infrastructure or a venue, as defined by Section 334.001(4), Local

Government Code, that is related to the promotion of tourism.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

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