License-bureau operators seek $3 fee increase and distribution fund; opponents urge bringing offices in-house

Representative Dave Hinman presented House Bill 207 to the House Committee on General Laws, proposing a targeted fee increase and a new License Office Distribution Fund intended to steady revenue for privately operated Department of Revenue contract license offices across Missouri.

Hinman told the committee the bill would increase certain service fees by $3 and split that increase so that $2 would remain with the local license bureau and $1 would go into the new distribution fund, which would be divided equally among license bureaus statewide. The bill also would restrict the director of the Department of Revenue from awarding a fee-office contract to an entity affiliated with a current DOR employee or to a former DOR employee for one year following that employee’s termination, and it creates a License Office Distribution Fund to assist smaller or rural offices.

Operators who run contract license bureaus testified in support. Terry Cole, who runs several license bureaus in rural southeast Missouri, said rising wages and overhead have forced many operators to cover costs personally and that the fee increase would allow him to offer health insurance and keep rural offices open. Yoshiko Raybeck, who represents the Missouri Association of License Offices (MALO) and operates a family-run office in Sugar Creek, said labor and remodeling costs have eroded slim margins and that some single-agent rural offices are at risk; she said recent remodeling projects helped triage errors and improve service but did not materially increase revenue.

Opposition testimony came primarily from Arnie C. Acdinoff, State Public Advocate, who argued against adding what he called “another fee or another tax” on Missouri households and urged the state to consider bringing services back in-house to save the public money. Acdinoff cited the fiscal note figures discussed in the hearing: projected revenue increases to the highway fund and to contract office processing fees in the mid-to-high millions across fiscal years 2026–2028; he said the distribution fund itself was projected in oversight estimates to receive roughly $8.7 million per year in early fiscal projections. Acdinoff also asserted that some contract offices show large profit margins and said in‑house operation could save consumers money.

Joseph Plagenberg, an operator and former Department of Revenue attorney, supported a fee increase but objected to some bill language that he said could bar former DOR employees from competitively bidding; he called the proposed distribution fund a transfer of revenue from more efficiently run offices to underperforming ones and urged attention to competitive bidding and upcoming technology upgrades that could reduce the need for in-person services.

Committee members asked about staffing, consolidation, online renewals and the effect of the distribution fund on offices with different volumes of transactions. No formal committee vote occurred during the hearing.