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

SPONSOR Lundstrom

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/19/07

HB 154

SHORT TITLE DPS District 6 Full-Time Mechanic

SB

ANALYST Peery-Galon

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$0.0

$35.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.0

$.6

$35.6

$36.2 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Responses Received From

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 154 appropriates $35.0 from the general fund to the Department of Public Safety for

the purpose of funding a full-time position for a mechanic to service vehicles in district six of the

State Police. State Police District 6 based in Gallup covers McKinley County and most of

Cibola County.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $35.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the

general fund.

House Bill 154 – Page

2

DPS reports mechanics receive a tool allowance of $275 every six months. The appropriation

does not include this additional $550 tool allowance cost.

Due to the proposed legislation funding a full-time-equivalent position, it is likely that this will

become a recurring expense.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DPS notes that a mechanic in State Police District 6 would be a benefit to the officers and the

state. Currently, vehicle maintenance is done entirely by outside vendors resulting in increased

maintenance costs to the department.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

DPS states that the additional mechanic would increase performance of the State Police officers

in District 6 by decreasing downtime for patrol cars and increasing patrol time for the officers.

RPG/mt