Colorado Legislative Council Staff

STATE and LOCAL

FISCAL NOTE

TABOR Refund Impact

State General Fund Revenue and Expenditure Impact

Local Expenditure Impact


Drafting Number:

Prime Sponsor(s):

LLS 98-644

Rep. Swenson

Date:

Bill Status:

Fiscal Analyst:

February 2, 1998

House Judiciary

Susan Colling (866-4784)

 

TITLE:            CONCERNING THE STANDARDIZATION OF CRIMES WHOSE LEVEL OF OFFENSE DEPENDS UPON THE DOLLAR AMOUNT INVOLVED.



Summary of Legislation


            The bill would establish standard levels of offense and aggregation for crimes whose levels of offense depends upon the dollar amount involved in the crime. The bill also clarifies that for these crimes the commission of more than one offense within six months may be joined as a single episode.


            The bill would be effective July 1, 1999, unless a referendum petition is filed during the ninety-day period after adjournment sine die of the General Assembly, or on the date of the official declaration of the vote of the people as proclaimed by the Governor, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to Article V, Section 1 (3) of the State Constitution.



STATE FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY

FY 1998/99

FY 1999/2000

State Revenues

General Fund

Fines Collection Cash Fund



Fine Revenue



Fine Revenue

State Expenditures

General Fund

Other Fund


0


$801,016

FTE Position Change

None

None

Local Government Impact — See Local Government Impact Section below.



State Revenues


            This bill would have a fiscal impact on Fines Collection Cash Fund revenue as a result of more misdemeanor convictions. The bill lowers the penalty for many theft crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor. The proposed changes to certain offenses would decrease the penalty from a class 4, 5, or 6 felony to a class 2 misdemeanor, which carries a fine between $250 to $1,000. The potential amount that could be generated from this change cannot be estimated.



TABOR Refund Impact


            Section 20 of Article X of the Colorado Constitution, limits the maximum annual percentage increase in state fiscal year spending. Once total state revenue from all sources that are not specifically excluded from fiscal year spending exceeds these limits for the fiscal year, the state constitution requires that the excess shall be refunded in the next fiscal year unless voters approve a revenue change as an offset. Based on the current Legislative Council economic forecast, it is projected that the state will be in a TABOR refund position during each of the next five fiscal years. Any increase or decrease in state revenue from changes in fees, fines, licenses, or other revenue sources will affect the amount of the state revenue to be refunded.



State Expenditures


            The bill changes various crimes of theft by standardizing the dollar amount that would distinguish between a felony and a misdemeanor. This standardization would have an impact on offenders who now might be convicted of a misdemeanor, whereas currently they may have been convicted of a felony. Data does not indicate the dollar amount for prior convictions of these crimes, however, this fiscal note assumes two percent of offenders convicted of a felony would now be convicted of a misdemeanor. Crimes included in these section are: theft, theft of rental property, theft by receiving, criminal mischief, fraud by check, defrauding a secured creditor or debtor, failure to pay over assigned accounts, concealment or removal of secured property, failure to pay over proceeds, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, computer crime, procuring food or accommodation with intent to defraud, trafficking in food stamps, theft of person needs benefits, tampering with a motor vehicle, theft of motor vehicle parts, theft in connection with assistive technology, theft of farm products, fraud in connection with obtaining public assistance and fraud in connection with obtaining food stamps.


            According to data provided by the Legislative Council, this fiscal note assumes two percent of previous convictions for the above crimes will have an impact to the Department of Corrections (DOC). Data from the DOC FY 1997 admissions database was used for this analysis and the sections of the bill that have an impact are described below.


            Section 4. This section changes the dollar amounts for theft of rental property. Currently, when the dollar amount is less than $400 it is a misdemeanor and when the dollar amount is between $400 and $15,000 it is a class 5 felony. Under the proposed legislation, offenses that were a class 5 felony would now be a class 4 felony and, if the dollar amount is below $500 it would be a misdemeanor. In FY 1997, there were four admissions to the DOC for theft of rental property with an average length of stay of 18 months. It is assumed that two percent of these offenders (or 0.1 offender) would be convicted of a misdemeanor and the remaining 3.9 offenders would now be convicted of a class 4 felony and would have an average length of stay of 27.4 months.


            Section 6. This section changes the dollar amount for the crime of fraud by check. The bill would change the dollar value and make it a class 4 felony when the amount is between $500 and $15,000 (currently it is a class 6 felony). There were 11 offenders admitted to the DOC with a class 6 felony in FY 1997, with an average length of stay of 13.2 months. It is assumed that two percent of these offenders would now be convicted of a misdemeanor, with the remaining offenders being convicted of a class 4 felony, resulting in an increase in sentence length and an increase in the average length of stay.


            Section 12. This section changes the dollar amount for the crime of defrauding an innkeeper. In FY 1997, the DOC database indicates that one person was admitted under this statute. Currently, a person may be convicted of a class 6 felony if the offense involves defrauding an innkeeper and the dollar value is $50 or more. This section would change the dollar value to $500, therefore, it is assumed that 50 percent of offenders would be convicted of a misdemeanor and 50 percent would be convicted of a class 4 felony. The average length of stay was 16.3 months, however, as a result of the bill the average length of stay would increase to 27.4 months.



Five-Year Fiscal Impact on Correctional Facilities


            Pursuant to Section 2-2-703, C.R.S., which requires that bills which would result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment not be passed without five years of appropriations for prison bed construction and operating costs, the following analysis is provided. Construction costs are estimated to be $69,811 per bed and operating costs $23,352 per bed. It should be noted that the construction costs reflect the funding needed to construct the beds in the fiscal year prior to when the additional offenders would enter the system.


FIVE-YEAR FISCAL IMPACT ON CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Fiscal Year

ADA Impact

Construction Cost

Operating Cost

Total Cost

FY 98-99

0.00

$0

$0

$0

FY 99-2000

(0.80)

819,697

(18,682)

801,016

FY 2000-2001

10.94

306,179

255,510

561,689

FY 2001-2002

15.33

0

357,928

357,928

FY 2002-2003

15.33

0

357,928

357,928

TOTAL

 

$1,125,877

$952,684

$2,078,561





Local Government Impact


            The bill would have a fiscal impact on local government as the increase in misdemeanor offenses would impact county jail space. The bill changes certain offenses that are currently classified as a felony and proposes those crimes be classified as a misdemeanor. According to Section 18-1-106, C.R.S., a class 2 misdemeanor carries a possible jail sentence between three months and 12 months and a class 3 misdemeanor carries a possible jail sentence of six months. A class 2 or 3 misdemeanor conviction may also carry a fine, in lieu of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. Since the sentencing court has the discretion of whether to impose a fine, a jail sentence or both, the impact on county jail space is unknown.



Spending Authority


            This fiscal note indicates that no additional spending authority would be required to the Department of Corrections in FY 1998-99. The Department of Corrections would require an additional General Fund appropriation of $2,078,561 for the remaining five year impact (pursuant to Section 2-2-703, C.R.S.).



Departments Contacted


            Alternate Defense Counsel

            Department of Corrections

            Judicial

            Legislative Council

            State Public Defender