FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: February 19, 2021
Time Requested: 11:22 AM |
| Agency: |
Secretary of State |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 2003 |
Introduced |
HB2602 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Elections |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
N/a
Sources of Revenue:
Other Fund N/a
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
State government does not generally pay for elections; the financial burdens of administering an election rest on each of the 55 counties.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2021
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2022
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Adding local elections/races to county ballots during statewide election cycles will have an insignificant financial impact on counties' existing expenses.
Legal advertisements, and voting machine/ballot programming and printing are the main costs that will increase. The amounts of the increase, however, are unknown by the state and should be requested from the counties directly. For efficiency, perhaps through the County Clerks' Association.
Memorandum
There may be local/municipal elections currently scheduled in the year 2021 but after the July 1 effective date. Also, most larger town/cities established their election date via charter.
Mandating a change would likely require a municipal charter amendment. However, the charter amendment procedures in W. Va. Code 8-4-7 and 8-4-8 do not appear to contemplate exceptions to the statutory procedures and deadlines--rather, a municipality has discretion to change their charter.
We recommend adding language to the bill to (1) mandate all towns/cities to change their charter, if necessary, by a date certain, (2) via non-election or discretionary decision procedure to avoid local objections that contradict the statutory requirement for local elections coinciding with statewide election cycles, and (3) perhaps permitting an exception to the charter amendment process to allow an ordinance or similar process contemplated in W. Va. Code 8-4-8 removing any opportunities for objections.
Otherwise, implementation date would likely be more appropriate for later than July 1, 2021, to give localities with elections scheduled for some time in 2021 (but after July 1) sufficient time to change their terms of officers and election dates.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Donald Kersey
Email Address: dkersey@wvsos.gov