LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 2, 2001 TO: Honorable Bob Turner, Chair, House Committee on Public Safety FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB503 by Pickett (Relating to allowing a sheriff or deputy sheriff to enforce commercial motor vehicle safety standards.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would allow a sheriff or deputy sheriff to become licensed by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to enforce commercial motor vehicle safety standards. In each fiscal year, a county would be allowed to retain fines from the enforcement of motor carrier safety violations in an amount not to exceed 110 percent of the county's actual expenses to enforce these violations from the preceding fiscal year. The county would be required to send to the Comptroller of Public Accounts the proceeds of all fines that exceed 110 percent of the enforcement costs. The bill would become effective September 1, 2001. In 1995, legislation provided that, in addition to DPS officers, officers from certain municipalities could apply for certification to enforce motor vehicle safety standards. Currently, there are police officers in 16 cities participating in the program. The cities may retain 110 percent of their costs of enforcement to administer this law, and any fines in excess of 110 percent must be remitted to the Comptroller. Two of the 16 participating cities provided information to the Comptroller on their commercial motor carrier safety program: The finance manager for the City of Pasadena reported that in fiscal year 1999 the costs of enforcement totaled $433,696, while their revenues from the fine collections totaled $183,413 in fiscal year 2000. The manager reported that they have never reported excess fines to the Comptroller since their participation in the program began in 1996. The court administrator for the City of Houston reported that in fiscal year 1999 their costs reached a total of almost $1.5 million, which included computer equipment, inspection equipment, vehicles, salaries and benefits, maintenance fuel, communication and supplies. The revenue collected for the first three quarters in fiscal year 2000 was $148,780. He also reported that fines have never exceeded their costs of enforcement since they began participating in the program in 1995. Based on the information received from two of the sixteen participating cities, the costs of enforcement would likely exceed revenue generated from fines from commercial motor carrier violations. Fine revenue and enforcement costs would vary by city. For sheriff's departments that do not already have officers trained and certified in the enforcement of commercial vehicle safety standards, initial implementation of the program would include the cost of having officers trained and certified, plus any costs incurred if additional officers were to be hired for this program. Training costs per officer include $8 per day for room and board at the DPS Training Academy, $2.50 per day for training materials, and $25 per test. The total for the complete training and certification is $340 per officer, plus any other out of town travel expenses that may apply. Source Agencies: 405 Texas Department of Public Safety, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, JC, DG, DB