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