LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 26, 2001
TO: Honorable Clyde Alexander, Chair, House Committee on
Transportation
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB428 by Morrison (Relating to the fee for special
license plates for Purple Heart recipients.), Committee
Report 1st House, Substituted
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB428, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: positive impact *
* of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
**************************************************************************
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 0 *
* 2005 0 *
* 2006 0 *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from *
* State Highway Fund *
* 0006 *
* 2002 $(570,000) *
* 2003 (599,000) *
* 2004 (629,000) *
* 2005 (660,000) *
* 2006 (693,000) *
*****************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to establish an annual fee
of $3 for each set of Purple Heart license plates. The bill would remove
the current requirement that Purple Heart recipients pay an annual fee
of $3 for the first set of license plates and $15 plus the normal
registration fee for each additional set.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2001 and would only apply to a
registration fee for a registration period beginning on or after the
effective date.
Methodology
Implementing the provisions of the bill would decrease the cost of
purchasing additional sets of Purple Heart plates by $12 and would also
exempt additional sets of plates from the normal registration fees and
the optional county road and bridge fee. Consequently, there would be
losses to the State Highway Fund 6 (Fund 6) and to county road and bridge
funds. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) estimates an
average registration fee of $40 for the state and $20 for the county. It
is also estimated that the optional county road and bridge fee would
average $10 per registration.
TxDOT reported that approximately 20,000 Purple Heart plates were issued
in fiscal year 2000 and that 650 of these were subsequent issues. TxDOT
also estimates that an additional issuance of 15,000 subsequent sets of
plates would result from the implementation of the bill. It is
estimated that revenue losses to Fund 6 would increase by approximately
5 percent each year and that approximately $570,000 would be realized in
fiscal year 2002.
Local Government Impact
It is estimated that net revenue losses to counties would increase by
approximately 5 percent each year with the implementation of the bill
and that approximately $443,000 would be realized in fiscal year 2002.
For the purposes of this estimate, it is assumed that counties would
realize losses from the removal of normal registration fees and optional
county road and bridge fees. It is also estimated that a small revenue
gain of approximately $8,000 per year to county general funds would be
realized from the increased number of subsequent plates that are
anticipated to be issued.
Source Agencies: 601 Texas Department of Transportation, 304
Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, JO, RT, MW