HCS HB 144 -- EXHIBITION CENTER AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES

SPONSOR:  Marsh (Luetkemeyer)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Tourism
and Cultural Affairs by a vote of 16 to 0.

This substitute creates the Exhibition Center and Recreational
Facility District Act which allows residents of Camden, Miller,
and Morgan counties to request by petition that an exhibition
center and recreational facility district be created.  The
substitute requires that at least 50 property owners sign the
petition.  The petition must include the names and addresses of
petitioners and the location of their property, a map and
specific description of the boundaries of the proposed district,
and the name of the proposed district.

The substitute also allows Boone County to create an exhibition
center and recreational facility district.  All property owners
within the proposed Boone County district must sign the petition.
The governing body of each county included in the district can
approve the creation of the district by resolution.  However, the
district will not be established until after a public hearing is
held and each county within the proposed district adopts an order
establishing the district.  In Boone County, unanimous approval
of the order establishing the district is required of all
property owners within the district.

A board of trustees is created to administer the district and all
revenue received by the district.  The board will have no more
than 12 members.  The substitute specifies how the trustees will
be selected and the powers of the board.  Among its powers, the
board will have the power of eminent domain and condemnation
within the district and will be able to issue bonds secured by
all of the property and income of the district.

The substitute allows the district to submit to voters within the
district a sales tax of up to 0.5% on all sales within the
district.  The revenue from this tax will be deposited into the
Exhibition Center and Recreational Facility District Sales Tax
Trust Fund which the substitute establishes.  The revenue
collected from this tax will fund the exhibition center and
recreational facilities.  Twenty-five years from its effective
date, this tax will reduce to a rate of 0.1% unless voters in the
district approve an extension at the rate of 0.5%.  Extensions of
the sales tax cannot be for more than 20 years.  This tax cannot
be abolished or terminated if the district has outstanding debts
or obligations.  In Boone County, if no registered voters live
within the proposed district, the proposed sales tax and
extensions would be submitted to the voters in the county.

The substitute contains an emergency clause.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Income to General Revenue Fund of $0
or Unknown in FY 2004, FY 2005, and FY 2006.  Estimated Net
Effect to the Exhibition Center and Recreational Facility
District Sales Tax Trust Fund of $0 in FY 2004, FY 2005, and FY
2006.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill creates a taxing
district that will enable that area to purchase an existing
building and expand it to become an exhibition center.  They
anticipate that the exhibition center will offer year-round
employment to many people in the community because it will be
able to accommodate large groups that now cannot come to the Lake
area for conferences because the current facilities are lacking.
The exhibition center will not be in competition with any
existing facility, and it will not take business away from hotels
in the area.  This is not a tax increase.  The bill authorizes
local residents in the district to make the decision about their
own livelihood and future by allowing them to vote on the taxing
district.

Testifying for the bill were Representatives Luetkemeyer and
Cooper (155); Lake of the Ozarks Exhibition Center Committee;
Camdenton Area Chamber of Commerce; Lake of the Ozarks Area
Chamber of Commerce; Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors
Bureau; Miller County Special Business District; Boone County;
John Farrell Real Estate Company; Sycamore Creek Golf Club; B & B
Heating and Cooling; First Title Insurance Agency; Artpho
Gallery; and Lake Printing.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Alice Hurley, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated July 25, 2003 at 10:10 am