LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
May 2, 2001
TO: Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on
State Affairs
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB1809 by Zaffirini (Relating to the issuance of permits
for the operation of oversize and overweight vehicles on
certain highways by the City of Laredo; providing a
penalty.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* SB1809, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: positive impact *
* of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 0 *
* 2005 0 *
* 2006 0 *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) *
* Year State Highway Fund from State Highway Fund *
* 0006 0006 *
* 2002 $(4,590,000) $1,115,625 *
* 2003 (45,900,000) 1,160,250 *
* 2004 0 1,227,188 *
* 2005 0 1,294,125 *
* 2006 0 647,866 *
***************************************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to allow the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to authorize the City of Laredo to
issue permits for the movement of oversize or overweight vehicles
carrying cargo on certain roads and bridges. The bill would prohibit
TxDOT from authorizing the issuance of a permit for the movement of
equipment and commodities with a gross weight of more than 125,000
pounds. The bill would require permits to include certain information
and to specify the time in which movement authorized by the permit is
allowed. The bill would also require the City of Laredo to report all
permits issued under the bill to TxDOT.
The bill would allow the City of Laredo to retain 15 percent of permit
fees collected to defray administrative expenses and would require the
remaining 85 percent to be deposited to the credit of the State Highway
Fund to be used for the maintenance of certain state highways in
accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill would provide that
the permit fee would be the same as the permit fee issued by TxDOT for
oversize or overweight vehicles under Chapter 623 of the Transportation
Code.
The bill would prohibit movement authorized by a permit from exceeding
the lesser of the posted speed limit or 55 miles per hour and would make
an offense under the provisions of the bill a Class C misdemeanor and a
moving violation. The bill would authorize the Department of Public
Safety to enforce the provisions of the bill.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2001 and the provisions of the
bill would expire March 1, 2005.
Methodology
TxDOT estimates that 4 lanes of road for 17.8 miles on FM 1472 would have
to be replaced within 18 months of the first issuance of the permits due
to the road's current condition and the fact that it was originally
constructed with flexible pavement. TxDOT estimates that replacement
costs of approximately $4.5 million for preliminary design and
engineering in fiscal year 2002 and approximately $45.9 million ($645,000
per lane mile) in fiscal year 2003 would be realized with the
implementation of the bill.
TxDOT estimates that 50 trucks would purchase these permits each day for
250 days in fiscal year 2002 and that the permit fee would be $105, which
is currently the average permit fee for overweight vehicles at the Port
of Brownsville. For the purposes of this analysis, it is estimated that
the number of days and fee would remain constant throughout fiscal year
2006 and that number of permits would increase by approximately 4 percent
in fiscal year 2003 and by approximately 5 percent in each following
year through March 1, 2005. Under the provisions of the bill, 85 percent
of the collected permit fees would be deposited to the credit of the
State Highway Fund.
No significant fiscal implication is anticipated for DPS.
Local Government Impact
It is estimated that the City of Laredo would realize a positive impact
of approximately $200,000 each year through fiscal year 2005 from
retaining 15 percent of the collected fees. It is estimated that the
amount would decrease to approximately $114,000 in fiscal year 2006 with
the expiration of the provisions of the bill.
Source Agencies: 601 Texas Department of Transportation, 304
Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, RB, RT, MW