§4600.7. Notice; public hearing; majority protest

            A. If a tourist commission proposes to levy a new or increased business assessment pursuant to this Chapter, notice shall be mailed to the owners of the businesses proposed to be assessed. A protest may be made orally or in writing by any interested person. Every written protest shall be filed with the tourist commission at or before the time fixed for the public hearing. The tourist commission may waive any irregularity in the form or content of any written protest. A written protest may be withdrawn in writing at any time before the conclusion of the public hearing. Each written protest shall contain a description of the business in which the person subscribing the protest is interested sufficient to identify the business and, if a person subscribing is not shown on the official records of the city as the owner of the business, the protest shall contain or be accompanied by written evidence that the person subscribing is the owner of the business or the authorized representative. A written protest that does not comply with the requirements of this Subsection shall not be counted in determining a majority protest.

            B.(1) If written protests are received from the owners or authorized representatives of businesses in the proposed tourism recovery and improvement district who will pay more than sixty-seven percent of the assessments proposed to be levied or represent more than sixty-seven percent of the total assessed businesses by number, then no further proceedings to levy the proposed assessment against such businesses shall be taken for a period of one year from the date of the finding of a majority protest by the tourist commission.

            (2) In the case of a protest weighted by the number of owners of businesses or authorized representatives of businesses who will pay more than sixty-seven percent of the assessments to be levied, the amount of assessment attributable to a business owned by the same business owner that is in excess of fifty percent of the amount of all assessments proposed to be levied, shall not exceed the value of fifty percent in determining whether the petition is signed by business owners who will pay more than sixty-seven percent of the total amount of assessments proposed to be levied.

            Acts 2021, No. 319, §1, eff. June 15, 2021.