FISCAL NOTE TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 482

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JANUARY 31, 1997

      Assembly Bill No. 482 of 1996 permits an animal control officer (ACO), who has completed appropriate training and is so authorized by the governing body employing or contracting for that ACO, to investigate and sign complaints and arrest offenders for violations of local and State animal control, animal welfare and animal cruelty laws and ordinances committed in the ACO's presence. The bill also clarifies that all ACOs are to be trained in animal cruelty laws as well as animal control and animal welfare laws. The bill further provides that if an ACO is responsible for the arrest and prosecution of a violator, the fines, penalties and moneys collected would be remitted by the court to the municipality that hired the officer, to be used by the municipality to defray enforcement and training costs. If a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is responsible for the arrest, the fines, penalties and moneys collected would be remitted to that society as currently provided by law.

       The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) estimates that this bill would increase its costs by $4,000 in the current fiscal year and $3,500 and $2,000, respectively, in each of the following fiscal years for the printing and mailing of materials to notify municipalities and current ACOs of the new training, to set up law enforcement courses, and to mail out certificates. DHSS notes that the costs will decrease after existing ACOs take the law enforcement course and become law enforcement certified leaving only new ACOs to be certified, at which time costs will be comparable to current ACO certifying costs. DHSS further notes that municipalities would bear most of the costs of this retraining as well as the investigation, apprehension and prosecution of offenders conducted by ACOs authorized by their municipalities. These additional municipal costs would be offset in total or in part by the fines, penalties and moneys collected by the municipality. The amount of these additional municipal costs and the revenues that may be collected is not known.       DHSS also notes that as the bill also amends the definition of "pet shop" to include pet shops which sell any animal and not just those that sell dogs, local departments of health would be required by this bill to license and inspect those pet shops which now fall under this

expanded definition, resulting in further increased costs for local health departments.

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concurs with DHSS' estimate of its operating costs associated with this bill as they appear to be reasonable. The OLS also notes that the bill amends the definitions of "pound" and "shelter" as well as "pet shop" to include all animals, including fish, and not only dogs. These expanded definitions will place added costs on municipalities with respect to the licensing and inspecting of these additional facilities. However, municipalities would also receive the annual licensing fees which would now be required from these additional facilities, $10 for a pet shop but no fee for a shelter or pound, which the municipalities would be required to use for specific purposes associated with animal control pursuant to P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19.15.1 et seq.). The number of additional pet shops, pounds, and shelters that would require licensing and inspecting by the local health authorities pursuant to this bill is not known.

This fiscal note has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.