State Fiscal Highlights
· Any future school bus purchases for the Ohio School for the Blind and State School for the Deaf may be slightly more expensive. The schools currently own two school buses.
Local Fiscal Highlights
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
FY 2010 |
FY 2011 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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School Districts and County Boards of DD |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Possible minimal increase |
Possible minimal increase |
Possible minimal increase |
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Counties |
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Revenues |
Possible minimal increase |
Possible minimal increase |
Possible minimal increase |
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Expenditures |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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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. |
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· School districts, educational service centers, and county boards of developmental disabilities may see an increase in expenditures of approximately $60 for each bus purchased during any future fiscal year.
· The bill creates the potential for an increase in revenue for counties related to a potential increase in misdemeanor offenses related to the installation and operation of strobe lights on new school buses or on vehicles other than school buses. Any increase is expected to be negligible.
Detailed Fiscal Analysis
The bill requires that on and after the bill's effective date every new school bus that is acquired to transport school children, persons attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or children attending a program offered by a Head Start agency must be equipped with a single white strobe light located in the middle of the bus roof. The bill also requires that the strobe light be activated by the driver of the bus and remain in operation at all times when the school bus is transferring passengers. In addition, the bill limits the display of a single white strobe light to school buses. Finally, the bill establishes penalties for: failure to equip a new bus with a strobe light, failure to operate the strobe light when transporting passengers, and the operation of any vehicle or equipment, other than a school bus, equipped with a single white strobe light.
Increased expenditures for school buses
According to a spokesperson from OBS Inc., a supplier of school buses, the average price of a new school bus is approximately $75,000 and the cost of a single white strobe light is approximately $60. The cost of the light is, therefore, less than one-tenth of 1% of the total cost of the bus. It is anticipated that the number of new school buses purchased by any one school, district, or board in any fiscal year will be small. Any cost of the bill, therefore, will be minimal.
Increased fine revenues
The bill establishes that the violator of the requirement to equip a new school bus with a single white strobe light or for the use of a flashing white light on vehicles other than school buses is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on the first offense, a fourth degree misdemeanor on a second offense within a year after the first offense, and a third degree misdemeanor on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense. A minor misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of not more than $150. Although these provisions create the potential for an increase in misdemeanor violations, it is reasonable to anticipate that the number of violations occurring statewide will be minimal and the impact to any given county's fine revenues will be negligible.
