Sources of Revenue:

General Fund

Legislation creates:

A New Program,A New Fund

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The purpose of this bill is to establish the commission for a drug-free West Virginia and to provide for the creation of local coordinating councils to plan, monitor, and evaluate local comprehensive drug abuse programs. This is a new program which will have a fiscal impact on the State of West Virginia as well as a potential fiscal impact on local governments as it relates to the local coordinating councils.

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2007 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2008 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	240,220	240,220	240,220
Personal Services	0	0	0
Current Expenses	0	0	0
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	0	0

Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):

The bill creates a commission for a drug free West Virginia. It consists of the Governor, or the Governor’s designee, fifteen members who shall have specific experience and four Legislators who are non-voting members. The commission shall meet once a month and get reimbursed according to the Department of Administration’s travel regulations. There is no way to determine the exact costs associated with the creation of this commission as we do not know where the commission members will reside until after they are appointed. The Department of Administration’s travel regulations allow for the reimbursement of mileage at 44.5 cents per mile, reimbursement for hotel costs, a per diem amount for reimbursement for meals which varies depending upon the area, and reasonable expenses. Assuming that the 15 voting members live throughout the State, if you take an average of 240 miles per member (some may travel 4 or 5 hours and others less than an hour), $44.00 meal reimbursement based upon the Charleston area, and that 7 of the members will be required to stay overnight at a rate of $159.00 per night for single occupancy. This would amount to $3,375 per day for the 15 voting members. The bill does not specify how the Legislative members shall be paid. This assumes that they would be reimbursed as they are for Legislative meetings. Legislators get a per diem of $115 per day and $150.00 for attending meetings. This would amount to $1,060 per day for the four Legislative members. Taking all of these assumptions into consideration, the total amount for reimbursement of the commission members would be $4,435 per day. The bill states the members shall meet monthly. Therefore, the annual costs for reimbursement alone for attending the meetings would be approximately $53,220 annually. The bill requires the commission to be responsible for multiple duties, including but not limited to: reporting; coordination and collection of data and information; maintain a system to assist the local coordinating councils; monitoring; establish standards; and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. This could not be accomplished without a staff. Due to the nature of the responsibilities, we are assuming the staff could consist of a Director making $50,000 annually and an Assistant/Secretary making $25,000 annually. If you take those figures and add an additional 35% for benefits, the total personnel costs would be approximately $100,000 annually. The staff would need an office with furniture and equipment. The approximate cost of rent monthly would be $6,000 at 230 sq. ft. times two people at a rate of $12.00 per sq. ft. The rent, assuming utilities are included would be $72,000 annually. There would be an additional $15,000 needed to purchase the furniture, equipment and supplies and for upkeep and maintenance. This would mean that the total costs for the staff and operation would be $187,000. The total fiscal impact to the State alone would be approximately $240,220.00.

Memorandum

The bill does not specify who shall be members of the “local coordinating councils”, it only calls for countywide citizen body approval. If employees of county or municipal governments are members of the local coordinating councils then there may be some fiscal impact by the county or city as the employees may be paid to attend meetings. Additionally, the Prosecuting Attorneys Institute may not be the best agency to propose rules for Legislative approval. Perhaps the Department of Health and Human Resources would be in a better position as they already have several programs established for the same purpose of this proposed bill.

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Donna Lipscomb
Email Address: dlipscomb@wvadmin.gov