LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session May 8, 2001 TO: Honorable Frank Madla, Chair, Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB370 by Hinojosa (Relating to the fees imposed by certain counties for the preservation, restoration, and management of certain county records.), As Engrossed ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would authorize the commissioners court in counties adjacent to an international boundary to adopt as part of the county's annual budget a records archive fee, not to exceed $5, for each public document filed. The fees collected would be placed into a separate records archive account in the general fund of the county for expending only for records management and preservation, including automation purposes, of the county clerk's records archive. The county clerk would be required to prepare an annual written plan for funding the automation projects and records management and preservation services. The plan would be considered in a public hearing by the commissioners court after posting notice of the hearing. The commissioners court may not order collection of the fee after the county records archive preservation and restoration is complete. The records archive fee statute would expire on September 1, 2008. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2001. The county clerk's office was contacted in several border counties regarding the impact of the provisions of the bill. Each county responding currently collects a $5 document management fee for maintaining and preserving current documents, although in most cases, the fee is not sufficient to also restore or preserve archived documents, an issue of concern to the smaller counties. An official with El Paso County indicated the county clerk files between 98,000 and 100,000 documents a year. If the additional records archive fee were to be charged, it would generate an additional $50,000 in revenue annually. The County Clerk in Jeff Davis County said an additional $5 fee would generate approximately $3,600 in additional revenue and would cover most of the costs for restoring and preserving older documents. The County Clerk in Val Verde County estimated that an additional $5 fee would produce an additional $24,000 per year. Eligible counties that would choose to adopt the additional records archive fee at the maximum allowable amount would experience a positive revenue gain that would allow them to restore and preserve their archived documents. The amount generated would vary depending on the number of records filed; however, the gain is expected to cover most of the costs associated with the restoration and preservation of the records. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, DB