| TO: | Honorable Eddie Lucio, Jr., Chair, Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3554 by Raymond (Relating to motor vehicle inspection facilities near the border of this state and Mexico. ), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2004 | ($2,243,087) |
| 2005 | ($3,656,613) |
| 2006 | ($2,764,390) |
| 2007 | ($2,764,390) |
| 2008 | ($2,764,390) |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from GENERAL REVENUE FUND 1 |
Probable Savings/(Cost) from STATE HIGHWAY FUND 6 |
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | ($2,243,087) | ($1,849,550) | 32.0 |
| 2005 | ($3,656,613) | $0 | 64.0 |
| 2006 | ($2,764,390) | $0 | 64.0 |
| 2007 | ($2,764,390) | $0 | 64.0 |
| 2008 | ($2,764,390) | $0 | 64.0 |
The bill would amend the Transportation Code by requiring the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to erect and maintain border inspection facilities along a major highway at or near a border crossing from Mexico in the Pharr, Laredo, and El Paso districts for the purpose of inspecting motor vehicles for compliance with state and federal commercial motor vehicle regulations. The bill would require TxDOT to collocate agencies and utilize intelligent transportation systems in order to expedite the movement of people and vehicles. The bill would allow a municipality to choose the location of a bridge facility, either within a municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, if the facility would serve a bridge system that has more than 900,000 commercial border crossings during the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2002, and would be located in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The bill would require the municipality to choose the location within 180 days after the date TxDOT would make a request for a location.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reports that efforts are already underway to establish eight border inspection facilities based on the authority of current law, which includes plans to establish two facilities each in the Laredo, El Paso, Pharr, and Brownsville district locations. Based on the number of border crossings established in the bill, TxDOT assumes that increased costs would only be realized for one facility location change in Laredo and that the municipality would determine the location for that one facility. TxDOT also estimates that four additional satellite facilities would be required for the Laredo area to inspect all applicable motor vehicles for compliance with commercial motor vehicle regulations.
TxDOT estimates that the facilities would take approximately two years to become fully operational and that approximately $1.8 million in additional Right-of-Way, Design, and Construction costs would be realized in fiscal year 2004 and that this would be offset by a savings of approximately $1.4 million in fiscal year 2005. It is assumed that facility construction costs would be paid from the State Highway Fund and that the savings realized in fiscal year 2005 would be used for other transportation related expenditures during the same fiscal year. It is also assumed that the inspection facilities would be staffed by Department of Public Safety (DPS) non-commissioned vehicle inspectors and law enforcement officers. It is estimated that in the first year of the construction of these facilities, 32 additional personnel would be necessary (21 inspectors and 11 law enforcement officers) and that this number would increase to 64 in subsequent years due to all facilities becoming operational.
| Source Agencies: | 405 Department of Public Safety, 601 Department of Transportation
|
| LBB Staff: | JK, EB, RT, MW
|