Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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STATE FUND |
FY 2007* |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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General Revenue Fund (GRF) |
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Revenues |
Potential negligible gain
in locally collected court costs |
Potential negligible gain
in locally collected court costs |
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Expenditures |
- 0 - |
Potential incarceration cost increase, not likely to exceed minimal |
Potential incarceration cost increase, not likely to exceed minimal |
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Charitable
Foundations Fund (Fund 418) |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
Minimal effect on bingo
license fees |
Minimal effect on bingo
license fees |
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Expenditures |
- 0 - |
Potential increase in
Gambling Law administrative and enforcement costs, not likely to exceed
minimal |
Potential increase in
Gambling Law administrative and enforcement costs, not likely to exceed
minimal |
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Victims of
Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402) |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
Potential negligible gain
in locally collected court costs |
Potential negligible gain
in locally collected court costs |
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Expenditures |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Note: The state fiscal
year is July 1 through June 30. For
example, FY 2006 is July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007.
* For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, it is assumed
that any of the bill's state fiscal effects would occur sometime after FY 2007.
·
Office of the Attorney General expenditures. As
of this writing, LSC fiscal staff has not gathered any information suggesting
that the bill will noticeably increase the administrative and enforcement
workload and related annual operating costs of the Charitable Foundations
Section. If that were true, then the
potential effect on the Attorney General's expenditures, in particular those
associated with Fund 418, appear unlikely to exceed minimal. In this context, "minimal" means
an expenditure increase estimated at less than $100,000 for the state per year.
·
Office of the Attorney General revenues. The
bill creates a short-term bingo license and related $50 fee, which would be
deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the Attorney General's
Charitable Foundations Fund (Fund 418).
Based on a prior conversation related to the matter of a short-term
bingo license with a staff member of the Attorney General, it appears: (1) the availability of the short-term
license will largely affect certain charitable organizations by altering the
type of license or licenses that those certain charitable organizations might
otherwise have applied for under current law, and (2) the net fiscal effect of
such a change in applicant behavior on Fund 418's annual revenue stream is not
expected to produce any notable revenue gain or loss.
·
Court cost revenues. If individuals are found to
have violated the Gambling Law as changed by the bill, then an opportunity is
created for the state to gain locally collected state court cost revenues. As the number of such violations and related
convictions that might occur annually statewide appears to be relatively small,
the amount of court cost revenues that those state funds may gain is likely to
be no more than negligible. For the
purposes of this fiscal analysis, "negligible" means an estimated
revenue gain of less than $1,000 for either state fund per year. It is also important to note that collecting
court costs and fines from certain offenders can be problematic, especially in
light of the fact that many are unwilling or unable to pay.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2007 |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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Counties and
Municipalities |
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Revenues |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, not likely to exceed minimal |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, not likely to exceed minimal |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, not likely to exceed minimal |
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Expenditures |
Potential increase in
criminal justice system operating costs, not likely to exceed minimal |
Potential increase in
criminal justice system operating costs, not likely to exceed minimal |
Potential increase in criminal justice system
operating costs, not likely to exceed minimal |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
Criminal justice system expenditures. It
is possible that the bill's changes to the Gambling Law will lead to more
alleged violations of that Law, thus creating the potential for additional
criminal cases to be processed by county and municipal criminal justice
systems. The fiscal impact of that
possibility could be to increase local criminal justice system expenditures
related to investigating, prosecuting, adjudicating, defending (if the violator
is indigent), and sanctioning offenders who violate the Gambling Law. As of this writing, given the appearance
that relatively few additional Gambling Law violations may occur in any given
local jurisdiction at any given time, the magnitude of this potential
expenditure increase is unlikely to exceed minimal for county and municipal
criminal justice systems around the state.
For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, a minimal expenditure increase
means an estimated annual cost of no more than $5,000 for any affected county
or municipal criminal justice system.
·
Court cost and fine revenues. As
a result of the bill, it is possible that additional persons will violate the
Gambling Law, and subsequently prosecuted, convicted, and sanctioned. This means that affected counties and
municipalities may collect additional court cost and fine revenues. If, as previously mentioned, no more than a
few such violators will be processed by any affected local jurisdiction, then
the amount of revenues that a given county or municipality might gain seems
unlikely to exceed minimal. For the
purposes of this fiscal analysis, a minimal gain means an estimated increase in
revenues of no more than $5,000 for any affected local government per year.
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Short-term bingo license
The
bill creates a short-term bingo license, and allows a charitable organization
that does not already have a license to conduct, at a specific event, regular
bingo, instant bingo at a bingo session, or instant bingo at other than a bingo
session, to apply to the Attorney General for a short-term license. The short-term license, if granted, would be
in effect for 72 hours from the time the event begins. A charitable organization would be permitted
to apply for no more than two short-term licenses during a calendar year. The license fee of $50 would be
deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the Attorney General's
Charitable Foundations Fund (Fund 418).
On a prior occasion, a staff
member of the Office of the Attorney General indicated to LSC fiscal staff that
the creation of a $50 short-term bingo license would not noticeably affect Fund
418's annual revenue stream.[1] It appears that the availability of the
short-term license will largely affect certain charitable organizations by
altering the type of license or licenses that those certain charitable
organizations might otherwise have applied for under current law. The net fiscal effect of such a change in
applicant behavior on Fund 418's annual revenue stream is not expected to
produce any notable revenue gain or loss.
Administration and enforcement of the
Gambling Law
The bill's change to the
Gambling Law essentially expands the types of organizations that could apply
annually to the Office of the Attorney General's Charitable Foundations Section
for a license to conduct bingo or instant bingo. In addition to its licensing function, the Section is authorized,
in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies as necessary and
appropriate, to investigate, examine accounts and records, conduct inspections,
and take any other necessary and reasonable actions to administer and enforce
the Gambling Law. The Section's
operating expenses are financed by moneys appropriated from Fund 418, which
includes bingo license fee revenues, with any expenses of the Section in excess
of moneys available in Fund 418 paid out of GRF line item 055-321, Operating
Expenses.
As of this writing, LSC
fiscal staff has not gathered any information suggesting that the bill will
noticeably increase the administrative and enforcement workload and related
annual operating costs of the Charitable Foundations Section. If that were true, then the potential effect
on the Attorney General's expenditures, in particular those associated with
Fund 418, appear unlikely to exceed minimal.
In this context, "minimal" means an expenditure increase
estimated at less than $100,000 for the state per year.
Criminal prohibitions
State and local criminal
justice system expenditures
Local
expenditures. It is
possible that the bill's changes to the Gambling Law will lead to more alleged
violations of that Law, thus creating the potential for additional criminal
cases to be prosecuted and adjudicated by county and municipal criminal justice
systems. The fiscal impact of that
possibility could be to increase local criminal justice system expenditures
related to investigating, prosecuting, adjudicating, defending (if the violator
is indigent), and sanctioning offenders who violate the Gambling Law. That said, LSC fiscal staff has not gathered
any information suggesting that more than a few violations and resulting
criminal cases might be generated annually in any affected local
jurisdiction. If that were true, then
the magnitude of this potential expenditure increase seems unlikely to exceed
minimal. For the purposes of this
fiscal analysis, a minimal expenditure increase means an estimated annual cost
of no more than $5,000 for any affected county or municipal criminal justice
system.
State expenditures. As noted, it is possible that the bill's changes to the Gambling Law
will lead to more alleged violations of that Law, and, as a result, additional
individuals may be convicted and subsequently sentenced to prison. Such an outcome would theoretically at least
increase the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's (DRC) GRF-funded
incarceration costs from what those annual costs might otherwise have been
absent the bill's enactment.
The annual cost associated
with housing an offender in prison may be calculated using two separate annual
inmate cost estimates: (1) marginal
cost per inmate bed, and (2) total cost per inmate bed (fixed plus
marginal). Marginal cost can be used
when a relatively small number of offenders are likely to be added to DRC's
total annual inmate population.
Marginal costs include things such as food, clothing, medical care, and
so on. According to DRC's web site, its
total annual cost per inmate bed, as of March 2007, is $24,426. Legislative Service Commission fiscal staff
estimates that DRC's annual marginal cost is currently around $2,800 per
inmate.
As of this writing, LSC
fiscal staff has not collected any information suggesting more than a few
additional offenders could potentially be sentenced to prison for violating the
Gambling Law as changed by the bill. If
that were true, then the potential increase in DRC's annual incarceration costs
would be no more than minimal. In this
context, "minimal" means an estimated cost of less than $100,000 per
year for the state.
State and local court cost
and fine revenues
If individuals are found to
have violated the Gambling Law as changed by the bill, then an opportunity is
created for the state and its political subdivisions to gain revenues. In the case of the latter, this means that
affected counties and municipalities may collect additional court cost and fine
revenues. If, as previously mentioned,
no more than a few such violators will be processed by any affected local
jurisdiction annually, then the amount of revenues that a given county or
municipality might gain seems unlikely to exceed minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, a
minimal gain means an estimated increase in revenues of no more than $5,000 for
any affected local government per year.
As noted, the state may gain
locally collected court cost revenues that are deposited in the state treasury
to the credit of the GRF and the Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund
402). State court costs for a
misdemeanor conviction total $24, with $9 of that amount being credited to Fund
402 and the remainder, or $15, being credited to the GRF. Similarly, the state court costs for a
felony conviction total is $45, with $30 of that amount being credited to Fund
402 and the remainder, or $15, being credited to the GRF.
As the number of persons
that would be affected in this manner annually statewide appears likely to be
relatively small, the amount of court cost revenues that those state funds may
gain is likely to be no more than negligible.
For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "negligible" means
an estimated revenue gain of less than $1,000 for either state fund per
year. It is also important to note that
collecting court costs and fines from certain offenders can be problematic,
especially in light of the fact that many are unwilling or unable to pay.
LSC fiscal staff: Jamie L. Doskocil, Senior Budget Analyst
[1] Based on a fiscal analysis (dated Dec. 9, 2003) for the As Introduced version of House Bill 325 of the 125th General Assembly, which proposed a short-term licensing fee in the amount of $250, a staff member of the Office of the Attorney General estimated that the bill's effect on Fund 418's annual revenue stream would be minimal.