LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 83RD LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 16, 2013

TO:
Honorable Larry Phillips, Chair, House Committee on Transportation
 
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB2741 by Phillips (Relating to the regulation of motor vehicles by counties and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles; authorizing a fee; creating an offense.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Occupations Code to authorize the board of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to take certain disciplinary actions after granting an applicant or license holder the opportunity for a hearing rather than requiring a hearing as specified under current law. The bill would amend the Transportation Code to authorize the owner of a trailer with a gross vehicle weight of 4,000 pounds or less to apply for a title. The bill would make the $65 rebuilder fee applicable to the issuance of rebuilt salvage titles to include trailers and semitrailers. The bill would authorize the board of the DMV by rule to establish a fee for the issuance of a paper title to cover the administrative costs of an electronic titling system. The bill would authorize the DMV to credit a person for any time remaining on a multi-year vehicle registration when the person sells or trades the registered vehicle to a dealer. The bill would establish a third degree felony offense for the manufacture, sale, or possession of a registration insignia or license plate that is deceptively similar to an insignia or license plate issued by the DMV. The bill would authorize the DMV to issue a special permit during a major disaster declared by the President of the United States to an overweight or oversize vehicle or load that will be used only to deliver relief supplies. The bill would authorize the board of the DMV to adopt rules to establish the fee and requirements for the special permit.

 

Based on the information and analysis provided by the DMV and the Comptroller's office, it is assumed the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact to state revenues. Based on the information provided by the DMV, it is assumed any costs or duties associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed within existing resources. For this analysis, it is assumed the number of offenders convicted or whose cases would now be dismissed under the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state correctional agencies.

Local Government Impact

According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA) some counties that enter into interlocal contracts to administer another county's motor vehicle title administration could benefit, while the non-administering county could lose in revenue. OCA does not anticipate fiscal impact to be significant.

The bill would also generate $5 in revenue for each trailer or semitrailer title transaction in a county. This would be a positive revenue gain to counties but is not anticipated to be significant.



Source Agencies:
302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 601 Department of Transportation, 608 Department of Motor Vehicles, 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 301 Office of the Governor
LBB Staff:
UP, AG, MW, TG, KKR, LM