LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              April 20, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Mike Moncrief, Chair, Senate Committee on
               Health & Human Services
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB957  by Burnam (Relating to fees for food service
               establishment permits.), As Engrossed
  
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*  No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.                    *
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Local Government Impact
  
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to allow county or public
health districts to adopt a variable scale to determine the fee charged
for health permits and permit renewals for certain food service
establishments and businesses, not to exceed $300. The bill would set
guidelines on which the fee scale should be structured. If a sliding fee
scale is not in place, permit fees issued could not exceed $150. The fee
charged to a child care facility would continue to be limited to no more
than $150. The Act would take effect on September 1, 2001 and would apply
only to permits issued or renewed on or after that date.

Current law places a cap of $150 or the highest fee charged by a
municipality in the county or public health district, whichever is less,
for the fees that a county or public health district may charge for
permits and permit renewal.  According to information gathered from the
Texas Association of Local Health Officials through a survey of ten
member districts or counties, on average, health districts issue or renew
610 permits per year (much higher in large and highly populated areas
and much lower in small and thinly populated areas).  The fees currently
charged by the districts and counties surveyed average $140 per permit,
with some districts and counties charging as low as $45, while others
charge up to $300.

If a county or public health district chooses to implement a sliding fee
scale, the county or district could experience no change in current
revenue or an increase of up to $160 per permit.  The change would
depend on how many establishments fall into each fee category on the
scale. If the county or district does not implement a sliding scale,
those entities currently charging up to $300, based on the highest fee
charged by a municipality in the county or public health district, would
lose up to $150 per permit.
  
  
Source Agencies:   
LBB Staff:         JK, HD, DB