LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              March 27, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Rene Oliveira, Chair, House Committee on Ways &
               Means
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB2076  by Flores (Relating to an exemption from ad
               valorem taxation for travel trailers.), As Introduced
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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This bill would amend Section 11.14 of the Tax Code to exempt, as non
income producing personal property, travel trailers.  A "travel trailer"
would be defined as a house trailer-type vehicle or a camper trailer,
regardless of whether the vehicle was affixed to real property.  The
trailer would have to be less than eight feet in width or 40 feet in
length and designed primarily for use as a temporary living quarters in
connection with recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use and not as
a permanent dwelling.  The term "manufactured home" would not include a
travel trailer.

Because the state is constitutionally prohibited from imposing a state
property tax, there would be no direct fiscal impact on the state;
however, Section 403.302 of the Government Code requires the Comptroller
to conduct a property value study to determine the total taxable value
for each school district.  Total taxable value is an element in the
state's school funding formula.  Passage of the bill, in concert with the
adoption of a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to
exempt travel trailers, will cause a reduction in school district taxable
values reported to the Commissioner of Education by the Comptroller.
 
Texas Department of Transportation records, dated January 23, 2001,
indicate that as of that date there were 161,746 travel trailers
registered in the state of Texas.   Further, a recent article in the
"Valley Morning State" reported that, "In Hidalgo County, travel
trailers bring in about $1.4 million in tax revenue.  School districts
are the largest taxing entity in the county."   However, though there
would be some costs associated with the bill, the fiscal impact on the
state and units of local government  is not anticipated to be
significant, given the limited number of counties that have the bulk of
immobile travel trailers on the tax rolls.
  
Local Government Impact
  
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, SD, WP, BR