FISCAL NOTE
FUND(S):
Special Revenue
Sources of Revenue:
Special Fund
Legislation creates:
Neither Program nor Fund
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 435
The purpose of this bill is to improve the collection of fines and fees from persons who fail to respond to a municipal court summons or who fails to pay assessed fines and fees.
Fines and fees collected from this bill would be distributed to various municipal and state agencies.
The Division of Motor Vehicles is notified by the court system of those individuals who fail to appear for a summons or who fail to pay fines, costs, and forfeitures. The Division notifies the individual that unless they make contact with the court and pay the required fees that their driver's license will be suspended.
This bill will require that ninety (90) days after the individual has been notified and had their driver's license suspended, that if the individual has not appeared in court or paid their fine, the court notifies the State Tax Commissioner. The Tax Commissioner will take the appropriate steps to withhold all future state income tax payments until the court fine is paid.
The courts may elect to have the Division of Motor Vehicles issue second notices to those who were convicted or failed to appear after January 1, 1993.
The Division mails notification letters to individuals who are noncompliant in court appearances or the payment of fines. These individuals are given two (2) weeks to prove they have satisfied the court summons and should not be suspended.
As a result of these letters, the Division suspended 54,150 driver's licenses in fiscal year 2004.
The Division estimates that 9,000 letters per year are ignored and the individual does nothing to satisfy the courts.
The Division's records indicate that approximately 223,000 citation files remain open. The Division estimates that only 60% or 133,000 of these individuals could be contacted.
To process the 133,000 open files and the approximate 9,000 additional files per year, the Division would need three additional employees.
The estimated total cost to process the 133,000 backlog of open files plus the 9,000 additional files per year is $751,490.
This bill also increases the driver's license reinstatement fee to $50.00. During fiscal year 2004, the Division reinstated 35,800 driver's license. Revenue generated by this bill will be $1,253,000. This does not include possible additional revenue that would be generated by processing the existing back log.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2005
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2006
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
751,490 |
751,490 |
751,490 |
| Personal Services |
93,600 |
93,600 |
93,600 |
| Current Expenses |
648,140 |
648,140 |
48,250 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
9,750 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
1,253,000 |
1,253,000 |
1,253,000 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Estimated Cost
Clerical Employees (3) $63,000
Benefits $30,600
Current Expenses
Programming cost for addition notification
to all letters $500
Postage certified 4.42 x 142,000 $627,640
Telephone $10,000
Envelopes, paper for letters $5,000
Computer processing time $5,000
Total Current Expense $648,140
Equipment
Computers (3) $3,000
Printer $750
Cubicles $6,000
Total Equipment $9,750
Total first year cost to process 9,000
noncompliant individuals $751,490
Revenue
Current reinstatement fee $15.00
Proposed Fee $50.00
Increase in Fee $35.00
Number of Reinstatements in FY 2004 35,800
Increase in Revenue $1,253,000
Memorandum
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Richard M. Johnston
Email Address: rjohnston@dot.state.wv.us