Honorable John Davis, Chair, House Committee on Economic & Small Business Development
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB507 by Watson (Relating to public and private facilities and infrastructure.), As Engrossed
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB507, As Engrossed: a negative impact of ($95,000) through the biennium ending August 31, 2015.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2014
($57,500)
2015
($37,500)
2016
($45,000)
2017
($45,000)
2018
($45,000)
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
2014
($57,500)
2015
($37,500)
2016
($45,000)
2017
($45,000)
2018
($45,000)
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Government Code, Chapters 2166, 2267 and 2268, to add requirements relating to the public and private facility and infrastructure projects including application of municipal zoning regulations, conflicts of interest, and the hiring of former or retired employees of the government entity for projects and public hearings for related projects.
The bill would exempt projects located in the Capitol Complex from municipal zoning and require that any Capitol Complex project meet design standards as part of the complex master plan. The bill would create a Special Board of Review for an appeal process for projects not approved by their municipalities. The bill would modify the composition of the Partnership Advisory Commission and would require that the State Preservation Board provide administrative staffing to the commission.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2013.
Methodology
The estimated total cost to comply with the provisions of the bill would be $57,500 in General Revenue in fiscal year 2014; $37,500 in General Revenue in fiscal year 2015; and $45,000 in subsequent fiscal years.
Under the provisions of the bill, the State Preservation Board (SPB) would be required to provide administrative staff to the Partnership Advisory Commission, which is the body that oversees private public partnership projects for the state and to review project proposals within the Capitol Complex for compliance with design standards of the complex master plan. To meet these requirements, the SPB anticipates that it would hire a consultant to review proposed projects at a cost of $15,000 for each project. The agency assumes five projects would be reviewed during the 2014-15 biennium and three projects per year in subsequent years. In addition, the agency anticipates the selected consultant would cost an additional $20,000 in the first year to study the program requirements.
The Office of the Attorney General, the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) and the General Land Office anticipate any additional work resulting from the passage of the bill could be reasonably absorbed within current resources. TFC assumes under the provisions of the bill that any partnership agreement could include cost recovery funding to pay for project management and inspections.
Local Government Impact
Some local entities would be required to serve on the board of review established by the bill. The bill also mandates other actions required by local governments regarding qualifying projects; however, any increased workload for local governments is not anticipated to have a significant fiscal impact.
Source Agencies:
305 General Land Office and Veterans' Land Board, 460 Board of Professional Engineers, 473 Public Utility Commission of Texas, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 303 Facilities Commission, 809 Preservation Board