TAX INFORMATION.

(a) In this section, "other local governmental entity" includes any governmental entity created by the legislature that has a limited purpose or function, that has a defined or restricted geographic territory, and that is authorized by law to impose a local sales and use tax the imposition, computation, administration, enforcement, and collection of which is governed by this chapter.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the comptroller on request shall provide to a county or other local governmental entity that has adopted a tax under this chapter:

(1) information relating to the amount of tax paid to the county or other local governmental entity under this chapter during the preceding or current calendar year by each person doing business in the county or other local governmental entity who annually remits to the comptroller state and local sales tax payments of more than $5,000; and

(2) any other information as provided by this section.

(c) The comptroller on request shall provide to a county or other local governmental entity that has adopted a tax under this chapter information relating to the amount of tax paid to the county or other local governmental entity under this chapter during the preceding or current calendar year by each person doing business in an area, as defined by the county or other local governmental entity, that is part of:

(1) an interlocal agreement;

(2) a tax abatement agreement;

(3) a reinvestment zone;

(4) a tax increment financing district;

(5) a revenue sharing agreement;

(6) an enterprise zone;

(7) any other agreement, zone, or district similar to those listed in Subdivisions (1)-(6); or

(8) any area defined by the county or other local governmental entity for the purpose of economic forecasting.

(d) The comptroller shall provide the information under Subsection (c) as an aggregate total for all persons doing business in the defined area without disclosing individual tax payments.

(e) If the request for information under Subsection (c) involves not more than three persons doing business in the defined area who remit taxes under this chapter, the comptroller shall refuse to provide the information to the county or other local governmental entity unless the comptroller receives permission from each of the persons allowing the comptroller to provide the information to the county or other local governmental entity as requested.

(f) A separate request for information under this section must be made in writing each year by the county judge or the governing body of the other local governmental entity.

(g) Information received by a county or other local governmental entity under this section is confidential, is not open to public inspection, and may be used only for the purpose of economic forecasting, for internal auditing of a tax paid to the county or other local governmental entity under this chapter, or for the purpose described by Subsection (h).

(h) Information received by a county or other local governmental entity under Subsection (c) may be used by the county or other local governmental entity to assist in determining revenue sharing under a revenue sharing agreement or other similar agreement.

(i) The comptroller may set and collect from a county or other local governmental entity reasonable fees to cover the expense of compiling and providing information under this section.

(j) Notwithstanding Chapter 551, Government Code, the commissioners court of a county or the governing body of the other local governmental entity is not required to confer with one or more employees or a third party in an open meeting to receive information or question the employees or third party regarding the information received by the county or other local governmental entity under this section.