HB 488 -- Tourism Community Enhancement Districts

Co-Sponsors:  Koller, Overschmidt, Berkstresser, Robirds

This bill allows any county, city, town, or village with a
population of less than 100,000 inhabitants to establish a
tourism community enhancement district.  The district will be a
body corporate and politic of the state and may impose a sales
tax up to 1%.

To establish a tourism community enhancement district, a
petition setting forth the boundaries, the maximum proposed
sales tax, and signatures containing at least 2% of the
registered voters of a county, city, town, or village within the
proposed district must be filed with the clerk of the county,
city, town, or village that includes a majority of the area
within the proposed district.  If the governing body, following
a hearing, decides to establish the proposed district, it must
adopt an order or ordinance.

Each tourism community enhancement district will have at least 5
board of directors.  The bill spells out the terms, selection,
and duties of the directors and other officers.  The procedures
for submitting and implementing a tax proposal to residents of a
district are outlined in the bill.

Expenditures from the tourism community enhancement district
sales tax will be as follows:

(1)  10% of any revenues will be used for education purposes;

(2)  10% will be used for senior citizen or youth or community
enhancement purposes within the district;

(3)  75% will be used by the board for marketing, advertising,
and promotion of tourism;

(4)  2% will be distributed among each destination marketing
organization located within each school district in the district
based upon the amount of sales tax collected within each school
district;

(5)  2% will be transmitted to the not-for-profit organization
conducting and administering the marketing plan within the
district; and

(6)  1% will be for the collection of the tax (Department of
Revenue).

The bill also contains procedural provisions for the expansion
of a district and board and for the dissolution of a tax or
district.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated September 13, 2001 at 2:02 pm