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Minutes for HB2148 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Increasing certain registration and title fees on vehicles for services provided by county treasurers and the division of vehicles, decreasing certain fees related to administrative costs and disposition of such fees and eliminating the division of vehicles modernization surcharge.
Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 7, 2023
Chairperson Francis opened the hearing on HB2148.
Chris Waggoner, Office of Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of the bill and addressed questions from the committee. (Attachment 1)
Jill Shelley, Principal Research Analyst, Kansas Legislative Research Department provided an itemization of fee changes related to the bill. (Attachment 2)
LeeAnn Phelps, Vehicle Services Manager, Division of Vehicles provided testimony in support of the bill. Ms. Phelps described the value of the partnership between the Division of Vehicles and county motor vehicles offices. She explained how the services they provide benefit the State through the collection of various taxes and fees and described the importance of funding their operations. (Attachment 3)
Ms. Phelps addressed questions from the committee.
Larry Mah, County Treasurer, Shawnee County testified in support of the bill stating that the current fee structure is not sustainable. Mr. Mah further explained that the legislation will provide the additional revenue necessary to properly fund Motor Vehicle operations while simplifying the outdated fee structure and reducing the cost to taxpayers. (Attachment 4)
Joe Grisolano, County Treasurer, Crawford County provided testimony in support of the bill stating that County Treasurers work as agents of the State by providing vehicle title and registration services for all of Kansas and that due to stagnant revenues and rising costs the fees retained by the County no longer cover all of their operational costs. (Attachment 5)
Jay Hall, Deputy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of Counties testified in support of the bill stating that it will save Kansas taxpayers money while helping county governments to become more efficient by simplifying vehicle registration for Kansas taxpayers and increasing overall transparency. (Attachment 6)
Shilo Heger, County Treasurer, Riley County appeared in support of the legislation stating that the proposed flat fee would be consistent across all counties and provide the necessary revenue needed to fund county motor vehicle operations while being transparent to the customer. (Attachment 7)
Written testimony in support of the bill was submitted by:
Shane Krull, Miami County Administrator (Attachment 8)
Larry Townsend, Chairman, Wallace County Board of Commissioners (Attachment 9)
Adam T. Rains, Douglas County Treasurer (Attachment 10)
Brandi Baily, Sedgwick County Treasurer (Attachment 11)
Christine Smith, Wallace County Treasurer (Attachment 12)
Riley County Board of Commissioners (Attachment 13)
Thomas G. Franzen, Johnson County Treasurer (Attachment 14)
David T. Dennis, Commissioner, Sedgwick County (Attachment 15)
Michael White, Executive Director, Kansas Contractors Association provided neutral testimony to the bill. Mr. White requested an amendment to the legislation that would leave the Kansas Department of Transportation $4 vehicle modernization surcharge in place stating that the IKE plan currently being undertaken was passed as an investment of $9.9 billion over 10 years based in part on anticipated revenue from the motor fuels taxes, registration fees and sales taxes collected. (Attachment 16)
Written testimony neutral to the bill was submitted by:
Scott Heidner, Executive Director, American Council of Engineering Companies of Kansas (Attachment 17)
There being no further conferees, Chairperson Francis closed the hearing on HB2148.
The next scheduled meeting is February 08, 2023.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:43 PM.
