Bill > HB2496

This bill expands the definition of a "qualified public use facility" under the Local Tourism Development Zone Business Tax Act to include mixed-use developments that contain a performance venue with at least 2,500 seats, and allows municipalities or public authorities that have financed such a facility within a tourism development zone to use allocated sales tax revenue for authorized purposes, including debt retirement for the venue. Specifically, it amends Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) Title 7 and Title 67, allowing sales tax revenues collected within a tourism development zone to be applied to purposes authorized by the Local Tourism Development Zone Business Tax Act or other laws, such as the Convention Center and Tourism Development Financing Act of 1998. The bill also clarifies that a mixed-use development with a performance venue of at least 2,500 seats, or a sports facility with ten or more fields, can qualify if it involves significant public and private investment and was located in a tourism development zone when certified. Furthermore, it establishes a specific provision for performance venues that are adaptive uses of publicly owned stadiums previously leased to minor league baseball teams, allowing for the apportionment and distribution of state and local sales and use tax revenue from specific sources like food and drink, ticket sales, and parking to retire debt related to the venue, for up to 30 years or until the debt is paid off, with certain exclusions for revenue designated for educational purposes.