Title 49--PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS STATE BOARD OF FUNERAL DIRECTORS [49 PA. CODE CH. 13] Renewal Fee [34 Pa.B. 39] The State Board of Funeral Directors (Board) amends § 13.12 (relating to fees).
Description and Need for Final-Form Rulemaking
This final-form rulemaking raises the biennial renewal fee from $130 to $185.
The Board is required by law to support its operations from revenue it generates from fees, fines and civil penalties and to periodically review its expenditures and revenue streams to assure that revenues meet or exceed expenses. If the revenues are not sufficient to meet expenditures over a 2-year period, the Board must increase its fees by regulation. The Department of State's Bureau of Financial Operations (Bureau) has projected that, with the current renewal fee, the Board will have a deficit of almost $26,000 at fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, a deficit of over $230,000 at fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, and a deficit of over $500,000 at fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. The Board will begin recovering that deficit during the 2004-06 biennial period. The Board anticipates that it will be able to meet its estimated expenditures for the upcoming fiscal years and generate a surplus of approximately $160,000 at the end of fiscal year 2004-05. The Board was last required to increase its biennial renewal fees in 1992.
Summary of Comments and Responses to Proposed Rulemaking
The Board published notice of proposed rulemaking at 33 Pa.B. 1358 (March 15, 2003) with a 30-day public comment period. The Board received comments from the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association (PFDA). The Board also received comments from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) as part of its review of proposed rulemaking under the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1--745.12). The Board did not receive comments from the House Professional Licensure Committee (HPLC) or the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee (SCP/PLC) as part of their review of proposed rulemaking under the Regulatory Review Act.
The PFDA commented that, because the renewal fee would increase over 40% from $130 to $185, the Board should consider smaller incremental increases of a period of several biennial renewal cycles. Given the temporary and relatively modest savings to licensees under a graduated approach, as well as the cost to the Board to recreate renewal forms with the changing renewal fees and potential for confusion as to the actual fee to be paid, the Board believes that licensees would be better served by a single increase in the renewal fee at this time.
As part of the proposed rulemaking, the Board provided a table of projected revenue and expenditures and end of year balances from fiscal years 2000-01--2006-07. IRRC commented that, to fulfill its duty under the Regulatory Review Act to measure the reasonableness of the proposed rulemaking, it needed additional information. In response, the Board provides the following tables (in actual dollars) of projected expenditures by cost center and revenue by source.
Expense Actual Projected Projected Projected Projected Projected Projected Cost Center FY 00-01 FY 01-02 FY 02-03 FY 03-04 FY 04-05 FY 05-06 FY 06-07 BPOA Admin. $ 13,297 $ 11,234 $ 10,000 $ 10,000 $ 10,000 $ 10,000 $ 10,000 Commissioner's Office 8,001 5,874 9,000 9,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 Law Enforcement 209,347 235,012 245,000 252,000 260,000 269,000 277,500 Board Members 16,539 19,233 20,000 21,000 22,000 23,000 24,000 Hearing Expenses 2,710 2,079 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 Departmental Services 17,521 21,250 22,000 23,000 24,000 25,000 26,000 Board Admin. 68,015 74,239 75,000 77,000 79,000 81,000 83,000 Public Info. Office 1,462 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 Legis. and Reg. Analyses 5,326 2,433 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 Legal Office 107,039 114,875 135,000 140,000 144,000 149,000 153,500 Total $449,258 $487,228 $525,000 $541,000 $557,000 $575,000 $592,000 Revenue Actual Projected Projected Projected Projected Projected Projected Source FY 00-01 FY 01-02 FY 02-03 FY 03-04 FY 04-05 FY 05-06 FY 06-07 Renewals $19,460 $797,096 $27,200 $797,096 $27,200 $797,096 $27,200 Applications 13,265 14,000 14,000 14,000 14,000 14,000 14,000 Letters of Good Standing 925 1,050 1,000 1,050 1,000 1,050 1,000 Act 48 9,100 6,500 7,000 6,500 7,000 6,500 7,000 Fines 29,000 23,000 0 23,000 0 23,000 0 Total $71,750 $841,646 $49,200 $841,646 $49,200 $841,646 $49,200 Fiscal Impact
According to projections of the Bureau, the final-form rulemaking will generate approximately $358,050 in additional revenue in each biennial renewal cycle as the result of increasing the renewal fee from $130 to $185 for each of the approximately 6,510 licensees.
Paperwork Requirements
The final-form rulemaking will require the Board to change its biennial renewal forms to reflect the new fees. The final-form rulemaking will not create additional paperwork requirements for licensees.
Effective Date
The final-form rulemaking will become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and will initially apply to licensees who renew their licenses for the 2004-2006 biennial renewal period.
Statutory Authority
Section 18.1 of the Funeral Director Law (act) (63 P. S. § 479.18.1) requires the Board to establish fees by regulation and to increase its fees by regulation so that projected revenues will meet or exceed projected expenditures.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on March 5, 2003, the Board submitted a copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking, published at 33 Pa.B. 1358, to IRRC and the Chairpersons of the SCP/PLC and the HPLC for review and comment.
Under section 5(c) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC and the SCP/PLC and the HPLC were provided with copies of the comments received during the public comment period, as well as other documents when requested. In preparing the final-form rulemaking, the Department has considered all comments from IRRC, the SCP/PLC, the HPLC and the public.
Under section 5.1(j.2) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(j.2)), on November 17, 2003, the final-form rulemaking was deemed approved by the SCP/PLC and approved by the HPLC. Under section 5.1(e) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC met on December 4, 2003, and approved the final-form rulemaking.
Additional Information
Persons who require additional information about the final-form rulemaking should submit inquiries to Michelle Smey, Administrator, State Board of Funeral Directors, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, (717) 783-3397, funeral@pados.dos.state.pa.us.
Findings
The Board finds that:
(1) Public notice of intention to adopt the amendments adopted by this order has been given under sections 201 and 202 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (45 P. S. §§ 1201 and 1202) and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 1 Pa. Code §§ 7.1 and 7.2.
(2) A public comment period was provided as required by law and all comments were considered.
(3) The final-form rulemaking adopted by this order is necessary and appropriate for the administration of the act.
Order
The Board, acting under its authorizing statute, orders that:
(a) The regulations of the Board, 49 Pa. Code Chapter 13, are amended by amending § 13.12 to read as set forth at 33 Pa.B. 1358.
(b) The Board shall submit this order and 33 Pa.B. 1358 to the Office of Attorney General and the Office of General Counsel for approval as required by law.
(c) The Board shall certify this order and 33 Pa.B. 1358 and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.
(d) The final-form rulemaking shall take effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
JAMES O. PINKERTON, FD,
Chairperson(Editor's Note: For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, relating to this document, see 33 Pa.B. 6376 (December 20, 2003).)
Fiscal Note: Fiscal Note 16A-4811 remains valid for the final adoption of the subject regulation.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-10. Filed for public inspection January 2, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
