Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement

127 ^th General Assembly of Ohio

Ohio Legislative Service Commission

77 South High Street, 9^th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6136 ² Phone: (614) 466-3615

² Internet Web Site: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/

BILL:	H.B. 96		DATE:	March 28, 2007
STATUS:	As Introduced		SPONSOR:	Rep. Healy
LOCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED:		No —	Minimal cost

CONTENTS:

Probate fees exemption

State Fiscal Highlights

· The bill's probate fee exemption does not appear to have any direct and readily discernible effect on state revenues and expenditures.

Local Fiscal Highlights

LOCAL GOVERNMENT		FY 2007	FY 2008	FUTURE YEARS
Counties
Revenues	Potential probate fees loss, likely to be minimal at most		Potential probate fees loss, likely to be minimal at most	Potential probate fees loss, likely to be minimal at most
Expenditures	No apparent fiscal effect on probate court operations		No apparent fiscal effect on probate court operations	No apparent fiscal effect on probate court operations

Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.

· County revenues. Based on conversations that LSC fiscal staff had with certain probate judges, it does not appear that, generally speaking, the number of estates potentially exempted in any affected probate court from paying certain court service fees will be very large in any given year. Assuming that were true, it seems unlikely that the magnitude of probate court service fees lost in any affected county will exceed minimal on an ongoing basis. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means an estimated revenue loss of no more than $5,000 for any affected county per year.

· County expenditures. The bill's fee exemption provision does not appear to directly affect the annual operating expenses of any county, in particular those of the probate division of its court of common pleas.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

The bill

From a fiscal perspective, the bill most notably exempts the estate of a decedent who died or incurred a fatal injury or disease in a combat zone from certain fees that might otherwise have been charged and collected by a probate judge. Under current law, unchanged by the bill, the fees charged by a probate judge for a variety of services, including those related to the estates of decedents, range from $1 to $60.

State fiscal effects

The bill's probate fee exemption does not appear to have any direct and readily discernible effect on state revenues and expenditures.

Local fiscal effects

County revenues

Based on conversations that LSC fiscal staff had with certain probate judges, it does not appear that, generally speaking, the number of estates potentially exempted in any affected probate court from paying certain court service fees will be very large in any given year. Assuming that were true, it seems unlikely that the magnitude of probate court service fees lost in any affected county will exceed minimal on an ongoing basis. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means an estimated revenue loss of no more than $5,000 for any affected county per year.

County expenditures

The bill's fee exemption provision does not appear to directly affect the annual operating expenses of any county, in particular those of the probate division of the court of common pleas.

LSC fiscal staff: Joseph Rogers, Senior Budget Analyst

HB0096IN.doc/rh