FISCAL NOTE



FUND(S):

0407-Central Office General Administrative Fund, 5144-Vital Statistics Account, 5225-Vital Statistics Improvement Fund

Sources of Revenue:

General Fund,Special Fund,Other Fund Non-appropriated Special

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


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


The proposed legislation forces a county clerk to issue, without cost, up to three certified copies of a veteran's death certificate to a veteran's family members and dependents. Additional copies must be purchased at the regular fee. A veteran shall be construed to mean any person who has served in the Armed Forces of the United States as defined in section one, article one, chapter nine-a of the code. The preliminary 2007 death statistics file held by the Vital Registration Office shows approximately 20,766 deaths in West Virginia. The Department issues approximately 90% of the death certificates for the state. The Department's Bureau for Public Health, Office of Epidemiology and Health Promotion is estimating that approximately 30% of all deaths reflect a veterans status. The Department estimates a potential reduction in revenue of $168,205 with the passage of this legislation.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2008
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2009
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 0 0
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 -168,205 -168,205


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


The current cost of a death certificate is $10.00. If the Department loses the sale of three certificates from each veteran death, the loss of revenue would be approximately $168,205 (20,766 x 90% x 30% veteran status x 3 copies x $10 per copy). Forty percent of fees collected are deposited into the general revenue fund (a loss of $67,282) and the remaining 60% into special revenue accounts for the operation of the Vital Registration Office (a loss of $100,923). According to unedited data, during calendar year 2007, there were 20,766 deaths that took place in West Virginia. The Vital Registration Office produced a total of 90,678 certified copies of death certificates. Our records indicate that the average number of death certificates purchased at the time of death by the family is about 5 certificates. This indicates to us that the state’s Vital Registration Office issues the majority share of death certificates. This will likely vary from year to year. If we know that the average purchase is five certificates and the bill seeks to give away three certificates for free from the County Clerk, the Department could potentially lose the revenue from the additional two certificates to the County Clerk as well.



Memorandum


1) The language in this bill is not precise and makes no distinction between deaths that occurred yesterday and deaths that occurred 100 years ago. 2) Death certificates are recorded in the county of occurrence and in the county of residence if the county of residence is different than the county of occurrence; this bill does not state which county will be responsible for providing the three free copies of the death certificate. 3) The proposed language says, “family members and dependents"; this could cause confusion and should be more clearly defined as to the recipients of these death certificates. The proposed language states, family members and dependents can obtain up to three certified copies of a veterans death certificate; this could result in confusion among County Clerks, DHHR, and family members as to who should be the recipients of these death certificates. This proposed legislation does not define the issues below: Due to unclear language the proposed bill could force county clerks to provide death certificates for decedents who have died decades ago without compensation purely for genealogical use.



    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Martha Yeager Walker
    Email Address: fnbudoff@wvdhhr.org