LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session May 22, 1999 TO: Honorable Tom Ramsay, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SJR 4 by Madla (Proposing a constitutional amendment to create a consolidated El Paso Metro government by consolidating El Paso County and certain political subdivisions.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated, other than the * * cost of publication. * * * * The cost to the state for publication of the resolution is $76,352. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The resolution would consolidate the City of El Paso into El Paso County to form the El Paso Metro government, upon the approval of the majority of voters in El Paso County. There could be some costs associated with the planning for the consolidation of city and county government services and methods for operating the services under the El Paso Metro government. However, such costs are not anticipated to be significant. If the City of El Paso and other local governments in El Paso County are consolidated into the El Paso Metro Governments, there could be some initial costs associated with equalizing pay scales among local governments. The cost would depend on whether a substantial number of employees would require salary increases. There could be some long-term cost savings associated with municipal-county government integration, since some duplicate services, administration, equipment and facilities could be eliminated, reduced or disposed of. In addition, an integrated government could reduce the number of full-time equivalent employees and officers needed, potentially resulting in cost-savings to the integrated government. The cost-savings would depend on the number of positions that could ultimately be eliminated. A consolidated El Paso Metro government could realize some revenues through the sale of excess facilities, equipment and property, depending on the amount of such property the entity would chose to sell. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, TL