The bill would amend the Local Government Code to require an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain county law enforcement agencies.
Travis County anticipates an indeterminate loss in revenue and a standalone election cost of about $1.0 million if the county were to adopt a budget that triggered an election as required by the bill.
According to Cameron County, the fiscal impact from the bill would be significant if the county were to adopt a budget that triggered an election as required by the bill, upwards of $653,000 each year, unless the Comptroller were to refund the cost of the election if the voters approved the reduction. If not, there could be an annual expense depending on circumstances.
If Fort Bend County were to adopted a budget that triggered an election as required by the bill the county estimates the cost of holding a special election to be between $475,000 and $600,000 depending upon the length of the early voting period.
The Justices of the Peace and Constables Association do not expect a fiscal impact to justice courts from the bill.