LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              April 4, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Debra Danburg, Chair, House Committee on
               Elections
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  SB35  by Shapiro (Relating to certain processes and
               procedures promoting the consolidation of elections.), As
               Engrossed
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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Local Government Impact
  
The bill would require joint elections by political subdivisions located
in the same territory, if elections by those political subdivisions are
to be held on the same day. Also, the bill would require all political
subdivisions to use county precinct boundaries and county polling
locations, and  require certain elections to be held on the four uniform
election dates.

Political subdivisions, including municipalities, school districts,
community college districts, drainage districts, utility districts,
hospital districts and other districts which do not use the same precinct
boundaries as counties for elections could incur increased costs as a
result of the bill's enactment. In some cases, since certain political
subdivisions use fewer polling places than the county in which they are
located, additional polling places would have to be added. The cost would
depend on the number of additional polling places needed.

Joint elections would require the cost of an election to be shared among
political subdivisions, which could either increase or decrease the cost
of an election to a particular subdivision, depending on whether the
portion of the election's cost a subdivision would be greater or less
than the cost under current procedures.

Requiring certain local elections, including bond elections, to be held
on the four uniform election dates could result in some savings to
political subdivisions, since it could reduce the total number of
elections.

Most counties would not expect significant fiscal implications from the
bill, but, in some cases, joint elections could require a significantly
greater number of ballots. Denton County estimates that this could add
$25,000 to the cost of each election.
  
  
Source Agencies:   
LBB Staff:         JK, PE, SG