HB 4755 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to use hotel occupancy tax revenue for certain venue projects.

HB 4755 allows specific Texas municipalities to use hotel occupancy tax revenue for certain venue projects, primarily convention centers and cultural facilities. It defines three types of qualifying cities: those bordering the Rio Grande with pre-2009 venue projects, border county cities meeting population criteria without larger cities, and small coastal cities (pop. ≤25,000) with cultural heritage museums. The bill amends tax code to authorize these cities to impose and use hotel taxes for capital projects like convention center construction or expansion, requiring adoption of a formal capital improvement plan. This directly affects eligible cities meeting the population, location, and project criteria outlined in the legislation.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 3, 2025 Last action May 21, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 6 edits · May 14, 2025

MODERATE

This bill was significantly rewritten from its original version, changing the eligibility criteria for municipalities to use hotel occupancy tax revenue for venue projects. The original version required municipalities to meet specific population thresholds and border conditions, while the new version expands eligibility to include municipalities with populations up to 1.5 million in certain counties, adds new categories for barrier islands and multi-county locations, and introduces a temporary tax rate cap of 9% for specific municipalities. The bill also clarifies that the tax authority expires on January 1, 2056, or when debt is repaid, whichever comes first.

Scope change

The bill's scope was substantially expanded from the original version, adding new eligibility categories for municipalities including those on barrier islands, those spanning multiple counties, and those with populations up to 1.5 million in large counties, while maintaining some original provisions for smaller municipalities with cultural heritage museums.

ELIGIBILITY

Original eligibility criteria for municipalities were replaced with expanded criteria including population thresholds up to 1.5 million, barrier island locations, and multi-county configurations

TIMELINE

New expiration date of January 1, 2056, was added for the temporary tax authority, with an earlier expiration if debt is repaid

FISCAL

New tax rate cap of 9% was established for specific municipalities, replacing the previous 7% cap

DEFINITION

New definition of 'Eligible central municipality' was added with multiple categories based on population, location, and infrastructure plans

REQUIREMENT

Original requirement for municipalities to have approved sports and community venue projects before January 1, 2009 was removed

New requirement added that convention centers must be constructed before January 1, 2025 to qualify for tax revenue

Floor votes · House May 14, 2025

How they voted

102–36

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 144

May 14, 2025

D Democratic60

57 Yea 1 Nay 2

95% Yea

R Republican84

45 Yea 35 Nay 4

53% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Economic Development

upper

May 21, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

May 14, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

May 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Committee

Referred to Ways & Means

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

5 primary · 1 co-sponsor