FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 14, 2026
Time Requested: 06:40 PM |
| Agency: |
Legislative Auditor |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 1233 |
Introduced |
HB4167 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Boards and Commissions; Legislature |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
General
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund
Legislation creates:
Creates New Expense, Creates New Program
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
HB 4167 establishes and creates an independent citizen redistricting commission (Commission) for state legislative districts as a permanent commission in the legislative branch consisting of 13 commissioners.
Provisions of this bill would likely increase or create expenses. However, funding appropriations are not statutorily required until December 1, 2029, the December 1 preceding the next federal decennial census scheduled for April 1, 2030. A legislative funding request would therefore need to occur no later than the 2029 Regular Session to ensure the appropriation is made by that deadline.
As this fiscal note request asks for the fiscal impact for the 2026 and 2027 Fiscal Years, these will be noted appropriately as $0. The portion requesting the fiscal impact for the “Fiscal Year Upon Full Implementation” will reflect the costs likely associated with the funding required by December 1, 2029 and operation of the Commission in 2030. These costs will likely be somewhat higher in the year of implementation depending on inflationary effects and changes in technology costs.
Provisions of the bill that likely create or increase an expense:
(h) The Secretary of State… shall furnish, under the direction of the commission, all technical services that the commission deems necessary… …The commission shall have procurement and contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants for the purposes of this section, including legal representation.
The bill requires actions by the Secretary of State that would likely increase expenses of the Secretary of State’s Office which are not quantified in this fiscal note estimate. This estimate only attempts to quantify the cost incurred to the Legislature as the Commission being established as a part of the Legislative branch in its operation of the statutory duties and requirements of the bill.
To that extent, the bill grants the Commission procurement and contract authority and the ability to hire staff, consultants, and legal representation. The Commission would likely need equipment and space to operate, contracting with legal entities and consultants, and staff who would work full-time unless otherwise specified. While the majority of the Commissions work surrounds the year prior and two years after a federal decennial census, staff could remain employed in the interim years but the bill does not address this and this is left up to the decision of the Commission based on need.
(i) Beginning no later than December 1 of the year preceding the federal decennial census, and continuing each year in which the commission operates, the legislature shall appropriate funds sufficient to compensate the commissioners and to enable the commission to carry out its functions, operations and activities, which activities include retaining independent, nonpartisan subject-matter experts and legal counsel, conducting hearings, publishing notices and maintaining a record of the commission’s proceedings, and any other activity necessary for the commission to conduct its business. Within six months after the conclusion of each fiscal year, the commission shall return to the state treasury all moneys unexpended for that fiscal year. The commission shall furnish reports of expenditures, at least annually, to the governor and the legislature and shall be subject to annual audit as provided by law.
The bill requires legislative appropriation by December 1 of 2029, which is the 1st of December of the year preceding the next U.S. federal decennial census scheduled for April 1, 2030. Further identification of necessary resources and costs to establish the Commission should be revisited and refined beginning in January of 2028, the year preceding the appropriation deadline, to more clearly define what those costs will be. The bill also stipulates that any funds not used by the Commission at the end of a fiscal year are to be returned to the state treasury within 6 months of the close of the fiscal year.
Any audit requested to be conducted of the Commission’s expenditure of funds by the Legislative Auditor as the bill allows would not incur additional cost and would be performed by the Post Audit Division with existing resources under its existing scope of work.
The bill requires the publication of reports, numerous public meetings to be held statewide, and to be subject to audits. The publication of reports could be done through Legislative Duplicating but may also be done through a third party.
(l) Before commissioners draft any plan, the commission shall hold at least ten 10 public hearings throughout the state for the purpose of informing the public about the redistricting process and the purpose and responsibilities of the commission and soliciting information from the public about potential plans.
(m) After developing at least one proposed redistricting plan for each type of district, the commission shall publish the proposed redistricting plans and any data and supporting materials used to develop the plans. Each commissioner may only propose one redistricting plan for each type of district. The commission shall hold at least five public hearings throughout the state for the purpose of soliciting comment from the public about the proposed plans. Each of the proposed plans shall include such census data as is necessary to accurately describe the plan and verify the population of each district, and a map and legal description that include the political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and townships; man-made features, such as streets, roads, highways, and railroads; and natural features, such as waterways, which form the boundaries of the districts.
Public meetings would incur travel-related expenses and per Diem for the 13 commissioners and potentially costs renting a space for the meeting if one cannot be found for free. Any audits not performed by the Legislative Auditor and conducted by an outside firm would also incur an expense but this is not estimated.
(j) The commission shall have legal standing to prosecute an action regarding the adequacy of resources provided for the operation of the commission, and to defend any action regarding an adopted plan. The commission shall inform the legislature if the commission determines that funds or other resources provided for operation of the commission are not adequate. The legislature shall provide adequate funding to allow the commission to defend any action regarding an adopted plan.
Additionally, the bill grants the Commission legal standing to prosecute an action regarding the adequacy of resources provided for the operation of the commission, and to defend any action regarding an adopted plan. The Commission shall inform the Legislature if the Commission determines that funds of the Commission are not adequate and the Legislature shall provide adequate funding to allow the Commission to defend any action regarding an adopted plan.
This is easily the most difficult cost to estimate and the most significant potential expenditure of the Commission. Litigation could easily rise in costs rapidly and are unpredictable at this time, so we estimated on the high end but half of what Ohio estimates for its litigation costs for a similar Commission.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2026
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2027
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
0 |
2,512,750 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
500,250 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
712,500 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
1,300,000 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Basis for Estimates
To make these fiscal note estimates, given no experience directly with such a commission’s creation, we relied on information from the state of Ohio and a cost analysis from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management of its Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission comprised of 15 commissioners. The estimated annual cost for the Ohio Commission was about $5.7 million.
Of this total, $2.6 million was estimated for litigation before the Supreme Court, $1.55 million was attributable to commission staff, and $920,000 was attributable to consultants and professional services combining for 90% of the total annual cost estimate.
Equipment and technology accounted for a significant portion of remaining cost estimates, public meeting expenses second of the remaining costs, followed then by office space cost, then lastly the commissioners.
The compensation for commissioners was only about $73,000 as they are paid on a per Diem basis.
The estimates for this fiscal note attempt to extrapolate these costs from the Ohio analysis into the bill provisions. Ohio is roughly twice the area of WV in size and WV has 15% of the total population of Ohio. So for the estimate, we are reducing costs from the Ohio analysis based on these factors where applicable. Also, since technology and equipment costs are likely incurred upfront in year 1, the subsequent years’ technology costs after full implementation could be substantially reduced moving forward until replacement is required.
Since this fiscal note reflects the true $0 cost for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027, the “Fiscal Year Upon Full Implementation” is the estimated cost for year 1 funding due by December 1, 2029 for the operations of the Commission once established shortly after in 2030.
An estimated annual cost for the Commission at full operation is presented below, and then distributed in the fiscal note portion accordingly amongst expense categories.
Commissioners - $68,250 (Assumes 70 Per Diem Occurrences @ $75 x 13 Commissioners)
Legal Staff - $128,250 (1 Staff Attorney @ $95K Salary with Benefits)
Commission Staff - $303,750 (5 Staff $45K Avg Salary with Benefits)
Equipment & Technology - $150,000* (Assumes use of specialized equipment/software)
Consulting Fees & Contracted Services - $500,000 (Roughly 50% of Ohio Estimated Cost)
Public Meetings/Travel - $62,500 (50% of Ohio Cost Estimate)
Legal Defense/Litigation - $1,300,000 (50% of Ohio Cost Estimate)
Total Costs = $2,512,750
*Technology cost high in year 1
Broken into Fiscal Note Categories:
Personal Services - $500,250
Current Expenses - $712,500
Other (Legal Defense/Litigation) - $1,300,000
Total - $2,512,750
As noted previously, the highest estimated cost is also the most difficult to predict and estimate as the cost of litigation and legal defense can increase rapidly but could also not be incurred at all. Not properly estimating this expense could be problematic and the estimate tries to be cautious by providing a high estimate, as ultimately the bill requires unused funds to be returned to the state treasury.
Commissioner per Diem based on 70 meetings per year may also be high, but per Diem is applied not just for public meetings in code but also attendance to perform Commission duties at the Commission's location, so the estimate reflects these instances.
Memorandum
Since the work of the Commission seems centered during the year preceding and two years following a federal decennial census, it is unclear what operations of the Commission will be ongoing during the interim years, what staff will be necessary, and ultimately what costs for those years may be. It is likely not possible to determine this fully until after the Commission is operational. Should a adopted plan be challenged legally, this could cause the Commission’s work to continue in those years along with these costs, and the litigation expense estimate could be realized or increase beyond these estimates.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Justin Robinson
Email Address: justin.robinson@wvlegislature.gov