LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
Revision 1
 
February 26, 2009

TO:
Honorable Garnet Coleman, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB561 by Madden (Relating to the authority of county auditors with respect to computer software and data of other local officers or departments.), As Introduced

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would prohibit the county auditor in a county with a population of 190,000 or more from having authority to mandate the use of information technology components or software programs used by other local government officers or departments. The bill would also remove a county auditor's authority to have continual access to the items the auditor is required to examine. The county auditor would also be prohibited from directly accessing or manipulating real-time data on a computer maintained by another local government office or department.

Local Government Impact

While counties generally indicated that no direct significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated, Travis County indicated there is a potential for moderate to significant fiscal implications depending on what steps the county auditor would have to take to conduct an audit without having access to a department's technology. For example, if the audit must be performed using hard copies of records, more staff may be needed because of the additional time and work involved.


Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JOB, DB