LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

May 18, 2011

TO:	Honorable Tommy Williams, Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security
FROM:	John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1301 by Guillen (Relating to making a voluntary contribution to the Parks and Wildlife Department when registering a motor vehicle or renewing a motor vehicle registration.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1301, Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2013.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2012	$0
2013	$0
2014	$0
2015	$0
2016	$0

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Revenue Gain from State Parks Acct 64
2012	$1,067,000
2013	$1,600,000
2014	$1,600,000
2015	$1,600,000
2016	$1,600,000

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would implement a recommendation in the report, "Increase Private Contributions for State Parks" in the Legislative Budget Board's Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report, submitted to the Eighty-second Texas Legislature, 2011.

The bill would establish a system in which motorists can voluntarily donate $5 or more with their initial vehicle registration or renewals to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). These donations would used by TPWD for the operations and maintenance of state parks.

Donations made with vehicle registration renewals would begin with registrations that expire January 1, 2012. Donations made with initial registrations would begin when the bill is effective, September 1, 2011.

Methodology

The revenue gain estimate is based on Washington state's experience with a similar state park voluntary donation system. Based on the experience that state had with its first year of donations, and applying it to fiscal year 2009 vehicle registrations in Texas, a $1.6 million revenue gain is estimated for fiscal year 2013 and thereafter. For fiscal year 2012, the estimate is reduced by one-third because donations made with registration renewals would start in January 1, 2012, resulting in a projected gain of approximately $1.07 million for that fiscal year.

It is likely that revenue from this source will increase in future years as more vehicle owners learn about the state park donation option.

Local Government Impact

The bill would require a county assessor-collector to send any donations to the comptroller for credit to the Parks and Wildlife Department. Increased administrative activity due to this provision would vary by number of donations but is not anticipated to be significant and could be absorbed within current resources.

Source Agencies:

608 Department of Motor Vehicles, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts

LBB Staff:

JOB, KJG, JI, RN, KM, KKR