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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Williams, WC		DATE TYPED:	03/07/03		HB	827
SHORT TITLE:		Old Lincoln County Courthouse Employees				SB
					ANALYST:		Gonzales

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04	FY03	FY04
	$50.0			Recurring	General Fund
	$100.0			Non-Recurring	General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates an appropriation contained in CS//SB655/SFCS/SFCS

REVENUE

Estimated Revenue		Subsequent Years Impact	Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04
	$6.0	$6.0	Recurring	OCA Funds

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of Cultural Affairs, State Monuments Division

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 827 appropriates a total of $150.0 from the general fund to the Office of Cultural Affairs for the purposes as follows:

· $50.0 to fund two full-time maintenance positions for the old Lincoln County Courthouse State Monument; and

· $100.0 to complete the stabilization of the Tunstall store museum at the Old Lincoln County Courthouse State Monument.

Significant Issues

As noted by Office of Cultural Affairs, Lincoln State Monument manages 14 historic structures dating from the late 1800’s. In addition to the Tunstall Store, these include the historic Lincoln County Courthouse, the Montano Store and outbuildings, Sheriff Brent House and outbuildings, Dr. Watson House and outbuildings, Fresques House, and the San Juan Church and Convento. All of these buildings are in various stages of disrepair and need regular stabilization maintenance. The current staff of four monument rangers is unable to provide this regular maintenance while providing for a seven-day per week operation that must care for the large number of visitors to the Monument.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

OCA states the addition of two employees dedicated exclusively to maintenance duties would relieve the monument rangers from having to divide their time between taking care of visitors and doing the needed maintenance work that includes building stabilization and preservation along with landscape maintenance. In addition, the maintenance employees would possess the necessary skills and expertise needed for this specialized work that may not be available in the ranger workforce. The funding for the stabilization of historic structures would provide for a regular schedule of maintenance and repair not currently available. The Monument does not have any funding allocated for this function at this time.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The first appropriation of $50.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. The second appropriation of $100.0 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY04 shall revert to the general fund.

OCA anticipates the improvements to the Monument will increase admission revenue by $6.0 per year.

DUPLICATION

The appropriations contained in this bill duplicate appropriations contained in Senate Finance Committee substitute for Senate Finance Committee substitute for Senate Bill 655.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

This bill refers to the Old Lincoln County Courthouse State Monument. That has been renamed the Lincoln State Monument.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The appropriation of $100.0 for the stabilization of the Tunstall Store is also needed for the stabilization of the other historic structures that are part of the Monument. Those structures are in similar need of preservation maintenance.

JMG/yr