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.

The purpose of this bill is to suspend the driver’s license of an out of state resident who writes a bad check in West Virginia and then does not make good on the check after proper notice. The Division of Motor Vehicles can not directly suspend the driving privileges of a person licensed by another state. It can only suspend the driver’s privileges to operate a motor vehicle in this state. There is no requirement under any interstate agreement that a state honor another state’s suspension action on a non traffic related offense. In order to effectuate the provisions of this bill, the Division would create a driver’s license record for the offender. In order to create this record, the Division normally would require the person’s name, address, and date of birth and social security number. This record would be available to all states through the National Problem Driver Point System. The WV suspension would be effective if the offender returned to WV and if a law enforcement officer ran a drivers license check or when the driver was renewing their driver’s license. At the time of renewal, the issuing state would check the Problem Driver Point System and if WV has listed a drivers license with a suspension, the home state could choose not to renew the license until the WV suspension has been lifted. The Division has surveyed other state agencies and banks to try to estimate the number of worthless checks from out of state residents the Division would be handling. A conservative estimate is 12,000 worthless checks written each year and for which the check writer does not respond to making the check good or to a summons from a WV court. A survey conducted by the Division has shown that the information needed to create a driver record is not included on the check. The Division conducted a survey of West Virginia resident checks returned for non-sufficient funds. Although all checks surveyed had the bearers name and most had the address, none of the surveyed checks had the bearers date of birth. All of this information is needed to make positive identification. On 43% of the checks surveyed, the bearer’s address was different from the address the Division has in its data base. To attempt to identify 12,000 check writers, and establish driver records will require approximately 8 additional employees full time making phone calls and doing research. The Division estimates that probably only 10% of the check writers could be identified to the point that a driver record could be established and a suspension of driving privileges in WV. The Division estimates the cost to implement this bill to be $340,968. Estimated new revenue generated would be approximately $60,000. (12,000 x 10% x $50.00 reinstatement fee)

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2013 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2014 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	0	340,960	308,368
Personal Services	0	296,000	296,000
Current Expenses	0	12,368	12,368
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	32,592	32,592
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	60,000	60,000

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

Estimated Cost Personnel 8 Accounting Tech 2's x $25,000 $200,000 Benefits 8 x $12,000 $ 96,000 Current Expenses 8 x $ 1,546 $ 12,368 Equipment 8 x $ 4,074 $ 32,592 Total Cost $340,960 Estimated Revenue Number of Checks 12,000 Collection 10% 1,200 Reinstatement Fee $ 50.00 Total Revenue $ 60,000

Memorandum

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Jerry L. Conrad
Email Address: Jerry.L.Conrad@wv.gov