BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 775 By: Nixon Intergovernmental Relations 03-22-95 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Often people write personal or business checks to the county which are returned for reasons such as insufficient funds and closed accounts. Checks issued by the counties may be lost in the mail or issued incorrectly, which requires the placement of a stop-payment of the check. Banks charge counties a fee for each of these services. The amount of the fee charged to counties varies, but in general the fees charged have increased over the last several years. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 775 sets forth the fees a county treasurer may charge for returned checks and stop-payment orders. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 118.141, Local Government Code, as follows: Sec. 118.141. FEE SCHEDULE. Authorizes the county treasurer, or another officer who receives revenue in place of the county treasurer, to collect a fee of not less than $15 or more than $30, rather than $25, for a returned check; and the current stop-payment fee charged to the county by the county depository for a stop-payment order. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.