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 98-595

Rep. Kaufman

Sen. Dennis

Date:

Bill Status:

Fiscal Analyst:

February 11, 1998

House Judiciary

Susan Colling (866-4784)

 

TITLE:            CONCERNING OFFENSES COMMITTED AGAINST RAILROAD PROPERTY.



Summary of Legislation


            This bill would make it a criminal offense when a person trespasses on railroad property, intentionally or recklessly disregards railroad property and the safety of another, commits theft of railroad freight from any freight car, or receives stolen freight. The bill makes it a class 3 misdemeanor for trespassing and an unclassified misdemeanor if the offense does not exceed $500 in damages and there is no bodily injury. If the property damage is more than $500 and bodily injury occurs, the offense is an unclassified felony punishable by a fine and/ or a term of imprisonment. The bill makes it an unclassified felony for theft from a railroad freight car or receiving stolen freight.



STATE FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY

FY 1998/99

FY 1999/2000

State Revenues

General Fund


Fine revenue

(less than $10,000)


Fine revenue

(less than $10,000)

State Expenditures

General Fund

Other Fund


$41,887


$55,898

FTE Position Change

None

None

Local Government Impact — See Local Government Section below.



State Revenues


            The bill would have a fiscal impact on General Fund revenue from felony and misdemeanor fines. The bill establishes trespassing on railroad property as a class 3 misdemeanor that carries a fine between $50 and $750, and/ or a term of imprisonment in the county jail for six months. The unclassified misdemeanor proposed in the bill would carry a $500 fine and/ or a six month jail sentence. Additionally, an offense involving property damage that exceeds $500 or involves bodily injury, carries a fine penalty of not more than $10,000 or a term of imprisonment not to exceed 10 years in prison, or both. For offenses that involve serious bodily injury or death, a person may be subject to a fine of not more than $20,000 and/ or a term of imprisonment for not more than 20 years in prison. Although data are not available to determine the amount that would be assessed and collected, the collection of fines from these misdemeanors would have a fiscal impact on General Fund revenue.



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 would have an impact on the Department of Corrections (DOC) from convictions of the unclassified felonies. Offenders sentenced to prison under the provisions of the bill would also be required to complete a mandatory period of parole of two years. This fiscal note is based on data from the DOC that analyzed existing statutes for criminal trespassing, vandalism, theft, and receiving stolen property. It is assumed based on this analysis, that one additional offender will be sentenced to the DOC every five years under each of the bill’s sentencing options (5, 10, and 20 years). Since these are unclassified felonies, it is assumed that offenders would serve 50 percent of their sentence, with estimated lengths of stay of 30, 60 and 120 months. Therefore, it is anticipated that three offenders every five years would be sentenced to the DOC beginning in FY 1999-00, resulting in an appropriation of $41,887 General Fund in FY 1998-99.



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

$41,887

$0

$41,887

FY 99-2000

0.60

41,887

14,011

55,898

FY 2000-2001

1.20

34,906

28,022

62,928

FY 2001-2002

1.70

27,924

39,698

67,623

FY 2002-2003

2.10

27,924

49,039

76,964

TOTAL

 

$174,528

$130,771

$305,299



Local Government Impact


            The bill would have a fiscal impact on local units of government. Since the bill establishes a Class 3 misdemeanor and an unclassified misdemeanor that carry a penalty of a possible jail sentence, there may be an impact to the county jails. Data are not available to determine the impact, however, it is anticipated that any impact on the county jails would be minimal.



Spending Authority


            The fiscal note indicates that the Department of Corrections should be appropriated $41,887 General Fund in FY 1998-99 and the remaining five year appropriation of $263,412 General fund (pursuant to Section 2-2-703, C.R.S.).



Departments Contacted


            Department of Corrections

            Judicial

            Legislative Council

            State Public Defender