Grimes County commissioners remove nonprofit exemption from proposed hotel-occupancy tax bill

Grimes County commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 28 to ask the Legislature to remove language in a draft bill that would have exempted hotels operated by nonprofit organizations from a proposed county hotel-occupancy tax, and authorized two commissioners to coordinate with state and local officials on the amended bill.

County Commissioner David Tullis, who requested the special meeting after receiving a revised draft from State Representative Wharton’s office, told the court the draft included a new exemption clause that was not in the version the court originally approved. “Tax imposed under this subsection does not apply to a hotel operated by a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a), internal revenue code of 1986, by being listed as an exempt organization in section 501(c)(3) of that code,” Tullis read from the draft and said he had not authorized that specific language on his own.

The exempti…