LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session May 16, 2001 TO: Honorable Bill G. Carter, Chair, House Committee on Urban Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB1564 by Duncan (Relating to the funding of emergency medical services by municipalities with a population of 5,000 or more in counties with a population of less than 60,000.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would authorize municipalities with a population of 5,000 or more as of January 1, 2001 in a county with a population of 60,000 or less as of that date, to assess a fee, not to exceed $2 per month, to be paid by the customers of a utility provided by the municipality. The fee would be placed into a proprietary fund and could be used only for the provision of emergency medical services (EMS) within the municipality or the county in which the municipality is located. The bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Two municipalities that were identified as meeting all the eligibility criteria for assessing the proposed fee are Big Spring and Kerrville. Contacts with other municipalities that fit the population criteria of the bill found that those counties did not meet other criteria of the bill, but it is unknown if still other municipalities that meet those population requirements may be eligible to charge the fee for EMS services. A representative of the City of Big Spring said that the city currently has 9,448 active water utility accounts. If that number were to remain constant and if the city were to assess the maximum $2 per month fee, the city would realize an annual revenue gain of $226,752. The city currently transfers from its general revenue fund to their ambulance fund a subsidy of $250,000 per year for EMS. The revenue generated would offset all but approximately $24,000 of the city's EMS expenses. A representative of the City of Kerrville indicated the city has approximately 9,000 water utility customers, therefore a $2 monthly fee, if assessed, would generate $216,000 annually. The city's EMS is currently supported solely through EMS fees. EMS annual expenses total $1.4 million. Eligible municipalities that would choose to assess a monthly fee to assist in covering the costs of providing emergency medical services would experience a revenue gain. The revenue gain would help recover some of the costs of providing services. The amount of gain and the impact the gain would have on the costs of emergency medical services would vary depending on how much monthly fee would be assessed up to the $2 per month limit, the number of utility customers, and the EMS expenses. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, DB