FISCAL NOTE

Senate Bill 55 as introduced officially establishes the State Fire Marshal’s Fund in the State Treasury, ratifies and validates prior deposits and expenditures to the Fund, and allows expenditures from the Fund to support fire safety and prevention programs. This bill also increases the various permit and event fees issued by the State Fire Marshal, which would increase receipts to the State Fire Marshal’s Fund by an estimated $53,000 annually, based on FY 2019 fee collections. This bill would allow the State Fire Marshal to increase the fees, every five years, by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the end of December 2020, to the end of the month preceding the month in which the fee increase is to be effective. However, this fee increase may not exceed two percent per year.

In addition, this bill specifies that city or county ordinances shall not conflict with this act for non-aerial ground devices or novelties. The bill also requires the State Fire Marshal to transfer, on a semi-annual basis, an amount equal to five percent of certain fees collected by the State Fire Marshal during the previous six months from the State Fire Marshal’s Fund to the Alabama Firefighters Annuity and Benefit Fund which could increase receipts to the Alabama Firefighters Annuity and Benefit Fund by an estimated $15,000 annually based on FY 2019 collections.