LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 29, 2001 TO: Honorable Tom Ramsay, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1950 by Hamric (Relating to the administration, powers, duties, and operations of certain emergency services districts; providing criminal penalties.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would authorize an emergency services district located wholly within a county that has not established an office of county fire marshal or a multi-county district located partly within a county that has not established an office of county fire marshal to establish the office of district fire marshal. The emergency services district would provide office facilities, equipment, transportation, assistants, and professional services for that office. The provisions of the bill would also establish exceptions for paying charges for emergency services provided in response to a hazardous materials service call. If an eligible emergency services district were to choose to establish the office of district fire marshal, the annual operational costs could range from around $300,000 to up to more than $1.5 million. These costs represent annual budgets from existing fire marshal's offices in League City (population of 43,633; serving an area that covers 54 square miles), the City of Webster (population 5,570), and Harris County (population over 3.2 million; serving an area of 1,100 square miles). Source Agencies: 454 Texas Department of Insurance, 501 Texas Department of Health, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, DB, RM