| TO: | Honorable David Swinford, Chair, House Committee on Government Reform |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3045 by Cook, Robby (Relating to the limitation on the allocation of office space to state agencies.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would reduce the allocation of office space per FTE from the current amount of 153 square feet per employee to 135 square feet per employee. The Building and Procurement Commission estimates that savings would average $5.9 million over the next five years, beginning in the fiscal year 2004. However, any savings generated would be offset by costs incurred by state agencies related to moving staff into available state-owned space from leased space and from reconfiguring existing state-owned office space to accommodate the new square footage requirement. Any additional savings might not be realized beyond the appropriations reductions in House Bill 1.
The Building and Procurement's estimates for cost savings were determined by using the square footage and annual rents for current, active office space leases as of March 20, 2003 and calculating the estimated number of FTE's using the square footage divided by the average square feet per FTE in 2001, which was 235 square feet. Estimates were calculated to determine the reduction of space caused by the 135 per square foot limit plus exempted space, and savings by annual rents by fiscal years. Lease costs were based on current current contract costs per square foot and do not include moving.
| Source Agencies: | 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 303 Building and Procurement Commission, 701 Central Education Agency, 705 State Board for Educator Certification, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board
|
| LBB Staff: | JK, JO, GO, MS, RG
|