| TO: | Honorable Mike Krusee, Chair, House Committee on Transportation |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2992 by Murphy (Relating to the registration of semitrailers.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2008 | $0 |
| 2009 | $0 |
| 2010 | $0 |
| 2011 | $0 |
| 2012 | $0 |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from STATE HIGHWAY FUND 6 |
|---|---|
| 2008 | $802,110 |
| 2009 | ($802,110) |
| 2010 | $3,325,020 |
| 2011 | $959,250 |
| 2012 | ($562,050) |
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to remove the current requirement that a person must own 50 or more semi-trailers at the time of the application in order to register the trailers for a period of five consecutive years.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2007.
Based on the information provided by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), it is assumed that the expanded eligibility for purchasing a five-year semi-trailer registration would result in an increase trailer owners opting to purchase multi-year registrations. The actual increase in multi-year registrations cannot be estimated; however, for the purposes of analysis the table above reflects an assumption that 30 percent of registered trailer owners will opt to purchase a multi-year trailer registrations. Based on this assumption and information provided by TxDOT, it is assumed 178,248 trailers will be registered in 2008, and the number of registered trailers would increase by 1.8 percent each year. TxDOT indicates that the next five-year trailer registration period begins in March of 2010, based on department policy for the issuance of five-year trailer plates. Therefore, it is assumed that multi-year registrations purchased in years prior to or after 2010 would be prorated at the current fee of $15 per year of registration. Assuming that 53,474 trailers (30 percent) apply for a multi-year registration in 2008 (to expire in 2010) that would have otherwise applied for a one-year registration, the resulting fiscal impact would be a revenue gain of $802,110 to the State Highway Fund (Fund 6) in 2008 and a revenue loss of $802,110 to Fund 6 in 2009, since these trailers would not be required to register in 2009. Based on an annual growth rate of 1.8 percent in registrations and an estimated 30 percent of all trailer owners choosing to purchase a five-year registration in 2010, the estimated net fiscal impact would be a $3.3 million gain to Fund 6. The net positive impact to state cash flows would decrease as the revenues from prorated multi-year registrations would decrease in 2011 and would be offset by the loss of annual registration revenue that would have been realized under current law. In fiscal year 2012 it is assumed that a loss of $562,050 would be realized and that this would continue in subsequent fiscal years until 2015.
Based on the analysis of TxDOT, it is assumed that any costs or duties associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed within existing resources.
| Source Agencies: | 601 Department of Transportation
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KJG, MW, TG
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