Texas Tax Code - Section 351.101. Use Of Tax Revenue
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§ 351.101. USE OF TAX REVENUE. (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) for a municipality located in a county with a
population of one million or less, 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; and
(7) subject to Section 351.1076, the promotion of
tourism by the enhancement and upgrading of existing sports
facilities or fields, including facilities or fields for baseball,
softball, soccer, and flag football, 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 350,000 or less; or
(ii) has a population of at least 65,000 but
not more than 70,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 155,000 or less; 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.
(b) Revenue derived from the tax authorized by this chapter
shall be expended in a manner directly enhancing and promoting
tourism and the convention and hotel industry as permitted by
Subsection (a). That revenue may not be used for the general
revenue purposes or general governmental operations of a
municipality.
(c) The governing body of a municipality by contract may
delegate to a person, including another governmental entity or a
private organization, the management or supervision of programs and
activities funded with revenue from the tax authorized by this
chapter. The governing body in writing shall approve in advance the
annual budget of the person to which it delegates those functions
and shall require the person to make periodic reports to the
governing body at least quarterly listing the expenditures made by
the person with revenue from the tax authorized by this chapter. The
person must maintain revenue provided from the tax authorized by
this chapter in a separate account established for that purpose and
may not commingle that revenue with any other money. The
municipality may not delegate to any person the management or
supervision of its convention and visitors programs and activities
funded with revenue from the tax authorized by this chapter other
than by contract as provided by this subsection. The approval by
the governing body of the municipality of the annual budget of the
person to whom the governing body delegates those functions creates
a fiduciary duty in the person with respect to the revenue provided
by the tax authorized by this chapter.
(d) A person with whom a municipality contracts under this
section to conduct an activity authorized by this section shall
maintain complete and accurate financial records of each
expenditure of hotel occupancy tax revenue made by the person and,
on request of the governing body of the municipality or other
person, shall make the records available for inspection and review
to the governing body or other person.
(e) Hotel occupancy tax revenue spent for a purpose
authorized by this section may be spent for day-to-day operations,
supplies, salaries, office rental, travel expenses, and other
administrative costs only if those administrative costs are
incurred directly in the promotion and servicing expenditures
authorized under Section 351.101(a). If a municipal or other
public or private entity that conducts an activity authorized under
this section conducts other activities that are not authorized
under this section, the portion of the total administrative costs
of the entity for which hotel occupancy tax revenue may be used may
not exceed the portion of those administrative costs actually
incurred in conducting the authorized activities.
(f) Municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue may not be spent
for travel for a person to attend an event or conduct an activity
the primary purpose of which is not directly related to the
promotion of tourism and the convention and hotel industry or the
performance of the person's job in an efficient and professional
manner.
(g) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any private
entity, person, or organization from making subgrants by contract
to any other person, entity, or private organization for
expenditures under Section 351.101(a)(4). A subgrantee shall:
(1) at least annually make periodic reports to the
governing body of its expenditures from the tax authorized by this
chapter; and
(2) make records of these expenditures available for
review to the governing body or other person.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 191, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 2, § 14.24(a), eff. Aug. 28,
1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1110, § 4, eff. Oct. 1, 1989;
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 680, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts
1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1027, § 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1995; Acts 2001,
77th Leg., ch. 755, § 1, eff. June 13, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th
Leg., ch. 1308, § 3, eff. June 16, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg.,
ch. 209, § 90, eff. Oct. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 303,
§ 1, eff. June 18, 2003; Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1247, § 1,
eff. June 18, 2005.
Section: 351.0025 351.003 351.004 351.0041 351.005 351.006 351.007 351.101 351.102 351.103 351.1035 351.104 351.105 351.1055 351.106
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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