HB354: relative to dog license fees.

HB 354-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0736

08/01

HOUSE BILL HB 354-FN

AN ACT relative to dog license fees.

SPONSORS: Rep. Patten, Carr 7

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill increases dog license fees.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0736

08/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to dog license fees.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Licensing of Dogs; Fees. Amend RSA 466:4, I and II to read as follows:

I.(a) The fee for every license for a year or portion of a year shall be:

(1) [$4.50] $10 for dogs at least 4 months old but less than 7 months old which are not spayed or neutered and [$4.50] $10 for a neutered male or spayed female dog 7 months old or older; provided, however, that the owner or keeper of such spayed female dog or neutered male dog shall comply with the provisions of RSA 466:1-a to the satisfaction of the clerk of the town or city in which such dog is owned or kept; or

(2) [$7] $15 for any unneutered male or unspayed female dog 7 months old or older.

(b) In addition to the sum required in subparagraphs I(a)(1) and (2), each year the owner of each dog shall pay the clerk of the city or town where the dog is registered a companion animal population control fee of [$2] $4.

(c) The clerk shall remit all companion animal population control fees collected to the state treasurer along with the fees sent in accordance with RSA 466:9, provided that such companion animal population control fees shall be deposited into the companion animal neutering fund, established in RSA 437-A:4-a.

II. Notwithstanding paragraph I, the fee for every license for a year or a portion of a year shall be [$2] $5 for a dog of either sex if the owner is 65 years of age or older. Such owner shall not be required to pay the companion animal population control fee, under RSA 466:4, I(b), for licensing of one dog; provided, however, that, if such owner wishes to license more than one dog, the fee for any additional license shall be as provided in paragraph I.

2 Licensing of Dogs; Payment of Fees. Amend RSA 466:9 to read as follows:

466:9 Payment of Fees.

I. Clerks of the towns and cities shall issue dog licenses, receive the money for the licenses, and pay the same into the treasuries of their respective towns and cities on or before June 1 each year, retaining to their own use $1 for each license and submitting [$.50] $1 for each license to the department of agriculture, markets, and food for the purpose specified in paragraph II. The clerks shall return to their respective town or city treasurer a sworn statement of the amount of moneys thus received and paid over by them.

II. The [$.50] $1 received by the department of agriculture, markets, and food for each license issued pursuant to paragraph I shall be credited to a special nonlapsing fund to be used exclusively for the operation of the veterinary diagnostic laboratory established under RSA 436:92, and are hereby continually appropriated for such purpose to be expended under the supervision of the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

LBAO

03-0736

1/14/03

HB 354-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to dog license fees.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Agriculture indicated this bill will increase state restricted revenue and expenditures by $365,000 in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. Local revenues will increase by $850,000 in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or county revenue and expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department stated there were 146,000 dog licenses issued in FY 2002. Of these dogs, approximately 98,000 were neutered and 48,000 were not. The Department does not have data on the number of dogs registered between 4 and 7 months old, and indicated they would be included in the number of neutered dogs. The Department also did not have information on the number of dog owners older than 65 with only one dog, but assumed the number is small enough to be considered insignificant to this fiscal analysis. The bill raises the fee to license a neutered or spayed dog from $4.50 to $10 and raises the fee to license a dog that has not been neutered or spayed from $7 to $15. The companion animal population control fee is increased from $2 to $4. In addition, the amount distributed to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is increased from $.50 per license to $1.00 per license. The fee increases totaling $1,215,000 would be distributed as follows:

Fee Increases:

Neutered Dogs (98,000 x $5.50) $ 539,000

Non-Neutered Dogs (48,000 x $8) 384,000

Population Control Fees (146,000 x $2) 292,000

Total $1,215,000

Distribution:

Companion Animal Neutering Fund (State) $ 292,000

Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (State) 73,000

Town Treasuries 850,000

Total $1,215,000