Honorable Jane Nelson, Chair, Senate Committee on Finance
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1215 by Bettencourt (relating to a study of the feasibility and benefits to this state of abolishing the property tax assistance division of the office of the comptroller and transferring its powers and duties to an independent agency.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1215, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($66,450) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.
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
2016
($66,450)
2017
$0
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2015
2016
($66,450)
0.5
2017
$0
0.0
2018
$0
0.0
2019
$0
0.0
2020
$0
0.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require the Sunset Advisory Commission (SAC) to conduct a study of the feasibility and benefits of abolishing the property tax assistance division of the office of the comptroller and transferring its powers and duties to an independent agency. The bill requires the Commission to provide a report by September 1, 2016 to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the appropriate standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The bill would take effect immediately upon receiving a two-thirds majority vote in both houses; otherwise the bill would take effect September 1, 2015. The bill would expire September 1, 2017.
Methodology
This analysis assumes the SAC would conduct the study required by the bill in conjunction with other projects already scheduled for the 2016-17 biennium.
Based on information provided by the SAC, it is assumed that costs of $11,075 would be realized per analyst assigned to a review team for each month required to conduct a review. The methodology used by the SAC was created based on actual costs incurred for the 2012-13 special purpose review of the Port of Houston Authority and has been updated to reflect current salary and benefits costs. The amount includes the costs for salaries, benefits, and other operating costs necessary for staff to conduct these reviews. No travel costs are anticipated for the review required by the bill.
Based on information provided by the SAC, it is assumed that 0.5 Full-Time-Equivalent positions would be needed in fiscal year 2016 for two Analysts to work full time for three months to complete the review at a total cost of $66,450 from the General Revenue Fund. SAC reports the work would not be a typical Sunset review; however, it would require similar types of analysis and would result in a similar workload to that of conducting a review of a small agency.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
116 Sunset Advisory Commission, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts