LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 16, 2001 TO: Honorable Senfronia Thompson, Chair, House Committee on Judicial Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1935 by Deshotel (Relating to the fees collected for certain services by clerks of county courts.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would add an additional $10 fee for filing a "document not otherwise listed" under probate court actions in the fee schedule for county clerks. It would also double the fee for "original documents and one copy" from $4 to $8 under the same section. Under current law, there is no fee for "filing a document not listed" under the fee schedule for probate actions. The current fee for filing an "original document and one copy" is $4. The Comptroller of Public Accounts provided the following information gathered from several counties to obtain local fiscal impact: The judicial section in the county clerk's office in Cameron County reported an additional $5,000 to $7,000 would be generated on the $10 fee for "filing documents not listed." An additional $16,849 would be generated if the fee for "original documents and one copy" were to be raised from $4 to $8. The Bexar County clerk's office reported that the additional $10 fee and the increase from $4 to $8 in probate actions would increase revenues in Bexar County by an estimated $5,000 per year. The county clerk in Lamb County reported there would be no impact if a $10 additional fee is assessed and minimal impact if the fee for an original document and one copy is increased from $4 to $8. The county clerk in Tom Green County reported additional collections of approximately $2,300 for both fees. There would be a positive fiscal impact for counties. The impact would vary by county population. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, TB, DB