Bill Caption

Fiscal Notes

Bill Analysis

This is a bracketed bill that would expand the use of the hotel occupancy tax for the City of South Padre Island. SB 1804 would make certain municipalites eligible to use hotel occupancy tax revenue for expenses directly related to the construction, improvement, equipping, repairing, operation and maintenance of coastal sports facilities. Coastal sports facilities including boat docks, boat ramps, and fishing piers would be required to have been used in the preceding calendar year a combined total of more than five times for district, state, regional, or national sports tournaments and events. Additionally, the majority of those events must be directly related to a sports tournament or event in which the majority of participants are tourists who increase economic activity at hotels in the area. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

While we understand this is a local bill, we oppose all such expansions of the tax. Due to the nature of the hotel occupancy tax encouraging government spending and subsidizing specific businesses, state legislators should not be giving more municipalities the to ability to use hotel tax funds. The role of a limited government is not to grow tourism or to subsidize certain facilities at the expense of others with taxpayer dollars. Like any city whose concern is to see more tourists come and visit, a better solution would be to repeal the municipal hotel occupancy tax, which would encourage individuals to stay longer in hotels due to lower costs and spend more of their money -- that would have otherwise been paid in taxes -- within the local economy in tourism events and related activities. Such a situation would benefit tourists, municipalities, and their communities, and would also favor a limited government and the free market system.

For these reasons, we oppose SB 1804.