2017 -- S 0640

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LC000422

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND

DEVELOPMENT

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Seveney, and Felag

     Date Introduced: March 29, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Finance

     (by request)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 42-63.1-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 entitled

"Tourism and Development" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-63.1-3. Distribution of tax.

     (a) For returns and tax payments received on or before December 31, 2015, except

Except as provided in § 42-63.1-12, the proceeds of the hotel tax, excluding such portion of the

hotel tax collected from residential units offered for tourist or transient use through a hosting

platform, shall be distributed as follows by the division of taxation and the city of Newport:

     (1) Forty-seven percent (47%) of the tax generated by the hotels in the district, except as

otherwise provided in this chapter, shall be given to the regional tourism district wherein the hotel

is located; provided, however, that from the tax generated by the hotels in the city of Warwick,

thirty-one percent (31%) of the tax shall be given to the Warwick regional tourism district

established in § 42-63.1-5(a)(5) and sixteen percent (16%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater

Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11; and provided

further, that from the tax generated by the hotels in the city of Providence, sixteen percent (16%)

of that tax shall be given to the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau

established by § 42-63.1-11, and thirty-one percent (31%) of that tax shall be given to the

Convention Authority of the city of Providence established pursuant to the provisions of chapter

84 of the public laws of January, 1980; provided, however, that the receipts attributable to the

district as defined in § 42-63.1-5(a)(7) shall be deposited as general revenues, and that the

receipts attributable to the district as defined in § 42-63.1-5(a)(8) shall be given to the Rhode

Island commerce corporation as established in chapter 64 of title 42.

     (2) Twenty-five percent (25%) of the hotel tax shall be given to the city or town where

the hotel, which generated the tax, is physically located, to be used for whatever purpose the city

or town decides.

     (3) Twenty-one (21%) of the hotel tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce

corporation established in chapter 64 of title 42, and seven percent (7%) to the Greater

Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

     (b) For returns and tax payments received after December 31, 2015, except as provided in

§ 42-63.1-12, the proceeds of the hotel tax, excluding such portion of the hotel tax collected from

residential units offered for tourist or transient use through a hosting platform, shall be distributed

as follows by the division of taxation and the city of Newport:

     (1) For the tax generated by the hotels in the Aquidneck Island district, as defined in §

42-63.1-5, forty-two percent (42%) of the tax shall be given to the Aquidneck Island district,

twenty-five (25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town where the hotel, which generated

the tax, is physically located, five percent (5%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater

Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11, and twenty-

eight percent (28%) of the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation

established in chapter 64 of title 42.

     (2) For the tax generated by the hotels in the Providence district as defined in § 42-63.1-

5, twenty eight percent (28%) of the tax shall be given to the Providence district, twenty-five

percent (25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town where the hotel, which generated the

tax, is physically located, twenty-three (23%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater Providence-

Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11, and twenty-four (24%) of

the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation established in chapter 64 of title

42.

     (3) For the tax generated by the hotels in the Warwick district as defined in § 42-63.1-5,

twenty-eight percent (28%) of the tax shall be given to the Warwick District, twenty-five percent

(25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town where the hotel, which generated the tax, is

physically located, twenty-three percent (23%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater

Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11, and twenty-

four (24%) of the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation established in

chapter 64 of title 42.

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     (4) For the tax generated by the hotels in the Statewide district, as defined in § 42-63.1-5,

twenty-five percent (25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town where the hotel, which

generated the tax, is physically located, five percent (5%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater

Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11, and seventy

percent (70%) of the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation established in

chapter 64 of title 42.

     (5) With respect to the tax generated by hotels in districts other than those set forth in

subdivisions (b)(1) through (b)(4), forty-two percent (42%) of the tax shall be given to the

regional tourism district, as defined in § 42-63.1-5, wherein the hotel is located, twenty-five

percent (25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town where the hotel, which generated the

tax, is physically located, five percent (5%) of the tax shall be given to the Greater Providence-

Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau established in § 42-63.1-11, and twenty-eight (28%) of

the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation established in chapter 64 of title

42.

     (c) The proceeds of the hotel tax collected from residential units offered for tourist or

transient use through a hosting platform shall be distributed as follows by the division of taxation

and the city of Newport: twenty-five percent (25%) of the tax shall be given to the city or town

where the residential unit, which generated the tax, is physically located, and seventy-five percent

(75%) of the tax shall be given to the Rhode Island commerce corporation established in chapter

64 of title 42.

     (d) The Rhode Island commerce corporation shall be required in each fiscal year to spend

on the promotion and marketing of Rhode Island as a destination for tourists or businesses an

amount of money of no less than the total proceeds of the hotel tax it receives pursuant to this

chapter for such fiscal year.

     (e) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, for returns and tax payments

received on or after July 1, 2016 and on or before June 30, 2017, except as provided in § 42-63.1-

12, the proceeds of the hotel tax, excluding such portion of the hotel tax collected from residential

units offered for tourist or transient use through a hosting platform, shall be distributed in

accordance with the distribution percentages established in § 42-63.1-3(a)(1) through § 42-63.1-

3(a)(3) by the division of taxation and the city of Newport.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND

DEVELOPMENT

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     This act would maintain the forty-seven percent (47%) distribution percentage with

respect to hotel tax proceeds generated in the various regional tourism districts.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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