SB2324 - Tourism Marketing and Recovery District Law

• Authorizes municipalities, counties, townships, or combinations thereof to create tourism marketing and recovery districts by ordinance that impose transaction charges on tourism businesses.

• Transaction charges can be based on revenue, sales, or other business-related factors (including fixed rates per occupied hotel room) and must be collected and remitted to a certified tourism and convention bureau for marketing, promotions, and tourism-related activities.

• Requires a district plan, public hearing with 30-day notice to affected business owners, and allows districts to be denied if written objections from businesses representing more than 50% of proposed transaction charges are received.

• Permits the governmental unit to retain up to 2% of collected transaction charges for administrative costs, with remaining funds segregated in a specially-designated account and remitted promptly to the tourism bureau.

• Allows districts to be renewed after expiration, modified with public hearings, or terminated if businesses paying over 50% of charges object annually, or if violations of law or fund misappropriation occur.