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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Silva
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/13/07
HB 1016
SHORT TITLE Local Government Corrections Costs
SB
ANALYST Propst
REVENUE (dollars in thousands)
Estimated Revenue
Recurring
Fund
FY07
FY08
FY09
or Non-Rec
Affected
$484.1
$484.1
Recurring
Local Government Corrections
(for benefit of Bernalillo County)
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 1016 amends the motor vehicle penalty assessment misdemeanor fees section
(Section 66-8-116.3 NMSA 1978). The bill requires Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court to
impose and collect a $10.00 local government corrections fee on all adjudications of guilty when
the violator is cited to court is pursuant to the motor vehicle penalty assessment section. This
would bring the total add-on fees collected by Metropolitan Court to $54.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
HB 1016 has no fiscal implications for the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court ("Court"). Any
fees generated by the additional penalty assessment would not be retained by the Court, but
would be remitted to the State Treasurer. Unlike other fees collected under NMSA 1978 Section
66-8-116.3, however, the bill does not state into which fund the fee would be deposited. Based
on the fees collected in fiscal years 2003 through 2006, the Court estimates that $484.1 would be
collected by the Court in fees on annual basis.
Source: Metropolitan Court Administration
pg_0002
House Bill 1016 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DFA reports that HB 1016 represents a technical fix. Section 35-6-1 NMSA 1978 – “Magistrate
Court fees" already has the $10 local government corrections fee for courts in counties with a
metro court. If the violator actually comes to metro court to contest the citation and is found
guilty, the Court already has the authority and requirement to impose and collect the $10 local
government corrections fee. However, the vast majority of motor vehicle violators cited in
Bernalillo County accept the penalty assessment and pay the fine and add-on fees by mail. This
bill simply equalizes the add-on fees between the two structures. The total fees under current law
for a PA citation in Bernalillo county are $44, with no fee for local government corrections. This
bill would bring total fees to $54 for motor vehicle violators who choose to accept the penalty
assessment.
According to Bernalillo County officials, the County previously had misdemeanor penalty
assessment add-on fees in place for local government corrections. However, the former $10 local
government correction fee was replaced in Bernalillo County with a $24 court facilities add-on
fee. This new fee was used as the revenue stream to float bonds for construction of the new
Metropolitan Courthouse. This left the County without that revenue source to pay for escalating
incarceration costs. The intent of this bill is to give counties with a metro court system the same
revenue source as other counties have for defraying detention costs. In fact, the level of local
government corrections fee proposed in this bill is $10, compared to $20 local government
corrections fee for violations cited into magistrate court.
The Bernalillo County jail operating budget has grown from $18.4 million in 1995 to $54.8
million in 2007. This represents a 9.5% annual (compounded) increase in expenditures. At this
rate- an annual increase in expenditures of 9.5% - the operating budget for Bernalillo County's
Jail will exceed $100 million in seven years.
Source: Bernalillo County Administration
WEP/nt