SB 225-FN-LOCAL – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
03/28/12 1422s
03/28/12 1483s
2012 SESSION
05/09
SENATE BILL 225-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to fees for vital records.
SPONSORS: Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Rep. Infantine, Hills 13; Rep. Long, Hills 10; Rep. Messier, Hills 17
COMMITTEE: Public and Municipal Affairs
This bill increases the portion of vital record fees retained by the town clerk and removes the requirement that a portion of the fees be deposited in the general fund.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/28/12 1422s
03/28/12 1483s
12-2852
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to fees for vital records.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Fees for Copies, Verifications, and Amendments to Vital Records. Amend RSA 5-C:10 II to read as follows:
II. The town clerk shall forward $8 of each search fee collected by the clerk under this section to the department of state for deposit in the vital records improvement fund established under RSA 5-C:15[, and $3 to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund,] and shall retain the remaining [$4] $7 as the clerk’s fee for issuing such a copy. For subsequent copies issued at the same time, the town clerk shall forward $5 of the fee collected for each subsequent copy under this section to the department for deposit in the vital records improvement fund established under RSA 5-C:15 [and $2 to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund,] and shall retain the remaining [$3] $5 as the clerk’s fee for issuing such a copy. The town clerk shall retain the $25 fee for a delayed birth certificate as the clerk’s fee for examining documents and issuing the delayed birth certificate. Fees collected by the registrar shall be forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit into the vital records improvement fund established under RSA 5-C:15.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
LBAO
12-2852
Amended 04/05/12
SB 225 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to fees for vital records.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of State and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendments #2012-1422s and #2012-1483s), will decrease state general fund revenues and increase local revenue by an indeterminable amount in FY 2014 and each year thereafter. There is no impact on state, county, and local expenditures or county revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of State states effective July 1, 2013 this bill would divert vital records fee revenues collected by municipality clerks from the state’s general fund to the municipality. The Department states, for informational purposes, in FY 2011 there were 65,000 vital record searches and 57,000 subsequent copy fees. Under current law, $3 from each search fee and $2 from each copy fee would go to the state’s general fund, but under this bill would be retained by the municipality. The Department states if the FY 2011 vital record searches and copy request counts continued this bill would result in a decrease in state general fund revenues of $309,000 (($3 X 65,000) + ($2 X 57,000)) per fiscal year and an increase to local revenues for the same amount.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this would shift vital record search fees and copy fees from the state’s general fund to municipalities. The Association states it does not have the information available to estimate this bill’s impact on state general fund or local revenues.