Honorable Garnet Coleman, Chair, House Committee on County Affairs
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3727 by Swanson (Relating to the online publication of information by certain special purpose districts.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code and the Water Code to require certain special districts to maintain an Internet website and publish certain information on that website. The bill would also require the Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA) to add these districts to the existing Special Purpose District Public Information Database.
According to CPA, there would be no fiscal impact to the State.
Local Government Impact
According to the Texas Association of Counties, the bill would not have a fiscal impact on counties.
According to the Texas Municipal League, the bill would have no significant fiscal impact to cities.
According to the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District (NETMWD), some adjustment in billing software might be required for districts using a standard program. The cost of this programming should not be a significant cost. Additional costs due to increased information requirements would be insignificant to the district since NETMWD already has a website that can be modified to include the additional language. However, if the bill is interpreted to mean that all past agendas and minutes must be posted then the cost could be considerable for some districts that have minutes and agendas that go back decades.
According to the Tarrant Regional Water District, the bill would have an annual cost of $71,580 per year for one FTE, domain registration, and web hosting. The district states that this would not be a significant fiscal impact.