HB 153 - As Introduced - Regional water and sewer district police departments

State Fiscal Highlights

STATE FUND	FY 2010 – FUTURE YEARS
General Revenue Fund and Other Funds* of the Attorney General
Revenues	Potential, likely no more than minimal annual gain in police officer training and certification fees
Expenditures	Potential, likely no more than minimal annual increase to train and/or certify police officers
Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2010 is July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010. *These other funds include, but are not limited to, moneys deposited to the credit of Fund 1060, Fund 4210, and/or Fund 5900.

· Office of the Attorney General. LSC fiscal staff's research suggests that any additional costs incurred, and related fees collected, by units of the Office of the Attorney General to train and/or certify regional water and sewer district police officers would be, at most, minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, minimal means a revenue gain and/or expenditure increase estimated at less than $100,000 per year for the state.

Local Fiscal Highlights

LOCAL GOVERNMENT		FY 2009 – FUTURE YEARS
Certain Regional Water and Sewer Districts (those opting to establish a police force)
Revenues	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential increase to finance police force operating costs, probably in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually
Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.

· District expenditures. While the annual operating costs related to the voluntary establishment and maintenance of a police force could vary widely from district to district, largely as a function of the size of the police force established, the magnitude of such costs might easily be in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Such costs could be offset if these districts pursue additional funding through the use of their authority to levy taxes, special assessments, bonds, or some mix of those permissible revenue sources.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

Overview

For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, the bill most notably:

· Authorizes the board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district to establish a police department if the district has entered into an authorizing agreement with each political subdivision within which it intends to provide police services.

· Requires that a regional water and sewer district police officer be certified as having successfully completed a training program approved by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission.

State fiscal effects

Office of the Attorney General

The bill potentially affects units of the Office of the Attorney General in some manner, specifically the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission and the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. The Commission establishes uniform courses of training for law enforcement officers and regulates certain training curricula, while the Academy provides basic, advanced, and in-service training to law enforcement officers at the Academy or at field training sites at locations throughout Ohio.

In the course of these activities, both units generate revenues that are deposited to the credit of either the Police Officers' Training Academy Fee Fund (Fund 4210) or the Peace Officer Private Security Fund (Fund 5900). The costs of these two operations are in turn financed, in rough order of magnitude, by the General Revenue Fund (GRF), Fund 4210, the General Reimbursement Fund (Fund 1060), and Fund 5900. LSC fiscal staff's research suggests that any additional costs incurred, and related fees collected, by these units of the Office of the Attorney General to train and/or certify regional water and sewer district police officers would be, at most, minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, minimal means a revenue gain and/or expenditure increase estimated at less than $100,000 per year for the state.

Local fiscal effects

Regional water and sewer districts

The bill permits, but does not require, a regional water and sewer district to establish a police department. Currently, it appears that there could be as many as 30 to 50 or more regional water and sewer districts in Ohio. How many of these districts might actually opt to establish a police force is uncertain.

As noted, the officials of a regional water and sewer district would be responsible for deciding whether to establish a police force, and enter into the appropriate authorizing agreement(s). If these officials chose to embark on such a course of action, a funding source would need to be identified before any police force-related operating expenses would be incurred, including recruitment, training, payroll, and equipment costs. While these annual operating costs could vary widely from district to district, largely as a function of the size of the police force established, the magnitude of such costs might easily be in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

As delineated in the Revised Code, the rights, powers, and duties of a regional water and sewer district include, but are not limited to, the power to: (1) levy and collect taxes and special assessments, and (2) issue bonds and notes and refund bonds and notes. Presumably, if a district established a police force and its projected cash flow would not support all or some portion of the related operating costs, it would look to one or some mix of those permissible revenue sources to cover some or all of those annual costs.

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