LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

March 28, 2005

TO:	Honorable Todd Staples, Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB821 by Lindsay (Relating to an administrative cost for the enforcement of the collection of tolls in certain counties.), As Introduced

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would authorize a county with a population of 3.3 million or more to impose, in addition to other costs, $1 as an administrative cost associated with collecting a toll or charge for each event of nonpayment of a required toll or charge imposed under Section 284.069, Transportation Code. The bill would establish how those funds must be administered and used. The bill would take effect September 1, 2005, and would apply only to an event of nonpayment of a toll or charge that occurs on or after that date.

Under current statute, certain other counties are authorized to impose $1 as an administrative cost related to nonpayment of a required toll or charge. The bill would result in only one county having authority to impose the additional $1. Based on the 2000 federal census, the bill would apply only to Harris County.

Local Government Impact

Section 284.069 applies to a county with a population of 50,000 or more and that borders the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or inlet opening into the gulf; has a population of 1.5 million or more; is adjacent to a county that has a population of 1.5 million or more; or borders the United Mexican States. If an applicable county other than Harris County operates a tollway and currently imposes $1 as an administrative cost related to collecting for nonpayment of a toll or charge, that county would lose a revenue source that would have been offsetting costs associated with nonpayment hearings, although the fiscal impact is not anticipated to be significant.

Source Agencies:

LBB Staff:

JOB, SR, DLBa