Relating to customer facility charges as part of a vehicle rental transaction at airports, and including effective date and applicability provisions

This bill creates a new Code chapter 330B authorizing and regulating customer facility charges imposed as part of a vehicle rental transaction at an airport. Under the bill, an aviation authority, airport commission, municipality, or other entity that operates an airport is authorized to require a rental vehicle business to impose a customer facility charge (charge), as defined by the bill. The charge is paid by a customer who rents a vehicle at the airport. The bill requires a charge to be listed as a separate line item on all vehicle rental agreements transacted at the airport. The charge must be uniformly calculated based either on a per-agreement or per-agreement-day basis at the discretion of the aviation authority, airport commission, municipality, or other entity that operates the airport. An entity that operates an airport is required to provide notice of any changes to the charge, including but not limited to the amount and calculation method, to every rental vehicle business not less than days prior to the change taking effect. The charge must be used only for financing, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining, acquiring, or otherwise improving the consolidated vehicle rental facilities and common-use transportation systems used to transport customers between consolidated vehicle rental facilities and other airport facilities, including necessary equipment, vehicles, and facilities for such systems. The bill prohibits customer facility charge moneys from being used for airport terminal expansion, gate expansion, runway expansion, or for any other purpose not authorized under the bill. The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to charges collected on or after that date, and to charges collected prior to that date that are unexpended, unencumbered, and unobligated on that date.