Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
|
BILL: |
DATE: |
||||
|
STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
||||
|
LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
|
||||
·
The
bill has no readily discernible fiscal implications for state revenues and
expenditures.
|
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2007 |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
|
|
Counties |
||||
|
Revenues |
Potential minimal effect |
Potential minimal effect |
Potential minimal effect |
|
|
Expenditures |
Potential increase, likely
to be no more than minimal |
Potential increase, likely
to be no more than minimal |
Potential increase, likely
to be no more than minimal |
|
Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
Filing fee revenues. As a result
of the bill, some courts may temporarily forego filing fee revenues that might
otherwise have been collected in one fiscal year only to collect it in a
subsequent fiscal year. The effect of
these potential temporary shifts in the collection of filing fee revenues in
any given year is likely to be minimal.
This is because the number of proceedings that might be affected by the
bill annually in any given court is likely to be relatively small. For purposes of this analysis, a minimal
shift in revenue means an estimated annual amount of no more than $5,000 for
any affected court of common pleas and affiliated county.
·
Court expenditures. The bill's likely potential
affect appears to be that the resolution of certain proceedings may be delayed
until the service member returns from active duty, and that the court may have
to take certain actions, for example, review motions and schedule hearings, as
a byproduct of such delays. As of this
writing, however, the number of proceedings that might be affected in this
manner for any given court appears likely to be relatively small and the
associated cost would be no more than minimal.
For purposes of this analysis, in the context of expenditures, minimal
means an estimated annual cost of no more than $5,000 for any affected court of
common pleas and affiliated county.
|
|
Overview of the bill
For
the purposes of this fiscal analysis, the bill most notably:
·
Requires
the court to stay any proceeding regarding the allocation or modification of
parental rights and responsibilities if a parent who is involved in such a
proceeding is called to active military duty.
·
Requires
the parent who is called to active military service to notify the court of
termination of that service.
·
Permits the
court to issue an order temporarily allocating or modifying parental rights and
responsibilities prior to staying the proceedings.
·
Specifies
that the court must not consider active military service as a change in
circumstances and otherwise modify a prior decree allocating parental rights
and responsibilities.
State fiscal effects
The bill has no readily
discernible fiscal implications for state revenues and expenditures.
Local fiscal effects
Local expenditures
It
does not appear that the bill will affect the number of custody determination
and modification proceedings handled by the division of the court of common
pleas that has subject matter jurisdiction over domestic relations issues. The more likely potential affect appears to
be that the resolution of certain proceedings may be delayed until the service
member returns from active duty, and that the court may have to take certain
actions, for example, review motions and schedule hearings, as a byproduct of
such delays. As of this writing,
however, the number of proceedings that might be affected in this manner for any
given court appears likely to be relatively small. Assuming that were true, then the number of motions, hearings,
and potential delays is not likely to have a significant impact on the
operations of any given court, and the associated costs, to the degree that
such costs are measurable, would be no more than minimal. For purposes of this analysis, in the
context of expenditures, minimal means an estimated annual cost of no more than
$5,000 for any affected court of common pleas and affiliated county.
Local revenues
Courts
typically charge a fee for filing a new custody determination or modification
case. This fee is generally around
$100. As a result of the bill,
individuals could delay filing custody determination or modification cases
until the service member is released from active military service. Thus, in any given year, some courts may
temporarily forego filing fee revenues that might otherwise have been collected
in one fiscal year only to collect it in a subsequent fiscal year. The effect of these potential temporary
shifts in the collection of filing fee revenues in any given year is likely to
be minimal. This is because the number
of proceedings that might be affected by the bill annually in any given court
is likely to be relatively small. For
purposes of this analysis, a minimal shift in revenue means an estimated annual
amount of no more than $5,000 for any affected court of common pleas and
affiliated county.
LSC fiscal staff: Matthew Stiffler, Budget Analyst