| TO: | Honorable Robert Puente, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2009 by Flores (Relating to the recording of certain instruments with the Rio Grande Watermaster.), As Introduced |
The bill would require the Rio Grande Watermaster, a division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to be the official recorder and central repository for all legal instruments filed in connection with water rights relating to the Rio Grande Watermaster. The Rio Grande Watermaster would be allowed to charge a fee equal to that charged by Cameron County for recording legal instruments.
The TCEQ expects that passage of the bill would result in costs of $61,000 in fiscal year 2006 and $45,000 in subsequent years out of the Watermaster Administration Account No. 158 for administrative costs related to accepting, filing, and maintaining the additional documents that would be received at the Rio Grande Watermaster office. This includes funding for additional storage space. The TCEQ also esimates revenues of $13,400 to the Watermaster Administration Account No. 158 as a result of fees collected for the recording of instruments. This estimate assumes that neither the costs or revenue implications of the bill would be significant.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, ZS, TL
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