LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 6, 2001 TO: Honorable Tom Ramsay, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2497 by Haggerty (Relating to county fees for handling certain registry funds.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would lower to 5 percent the interest percentage on registry accounts that the county may retain to compensate for accounting and administrative expenses. The bill would also lower to 2.5 percent the fees that can be charged for handling registry funds that have not earned interest, not to exceed $25. The bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Currently, counties may keep 10 percent of the interest earned on registry accounts to compensate for expenses. Counties may also charge a fee of 5 percent, not to exceed $50, to handle registry accounts that have not earned interest. Representatives from Runnels and Rusk counties indicated the provisions of the bill would have a negative impact on their counties, but they could not estimate the exact amount of the loss. A representative from Smith County reported that this cut back in fees would have minimal impact. It is anticipated that counties would experience a revenue loss of half the amount currently retained for accounting and administrative expenses associated with registry accounts. The significance of the impact would vary by county. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, DB