LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 75th Regular Session April 21, 1997 TO: Honorable Eddie Lucio, Jr., Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 1848, Committee Report 1st House, as amended Committee on Intergovernmental Relations By: Madla Senate Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB1848 ( Relating to optional county vehicle registration fees.) this office has detemined the following: Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB1848-Committee Report 1st House, as amended The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill. This bill would allow a county commissioner's court to impose a fee for registering a vehicle of up to $2 for the county fire protection fund. Such fees would be administered in the same manner as those currently collected for the optional county fee for road and bridge fund. Consequently, the Department of Transportation would retain 3 percent of such fees, while counties would receive the remaining 97 percent. This bill could result in increased revenues to the state, depending on the number of counties which chose to implement the new optional fee, the number of vehicle registrations in such counties, and the amount at which such fees are set by each county. If no county chooses to impose such a fee, there would be no increased revenues to the state or to counties. If all counties (accounting for approximately all 15.3 million vehicle registrations in the state) chose to impose the maximum $2 per vehicle fire protection fund fee, counties would experience an aggregate increase in revenues of approximately $29.7 million per year, while the state would retain new revenues of $918,000 per year, which would be deposited into the State Highway Fund 006. It is anticipated that revenues to the state generated by this bill's enactment would be sufficient to cover any administrative expenses incurred by the Department of Transportation in implementing the provisions of the bill. Source: Agencies: 601 Department of Transportation LBB Staff: JK ,TL