Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Government Aid Restoration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves laying over bill to restore withheld LGA payments to small cities including Alpha
Summary
House File 2800, as amended to add the cities of Oden and Trotsky, was heard; the committee laid the bill over for possible omnibus inclusion after testimony from city clerks and fiscal staff that payments were withheld due to missed audit deadlines.
The House Tax Committee considered House File 2800 on Oct. 27, 2025, a bill to forgive or restore withheld 2023 local government aid (LGA) payments to several small cities, including Alpha, Oden and Trotsky.
Representative Joe Fogelman introduced the bill and moved the A1 amendment to add the city of Oden and the city of Trotsky. The amendment passed by voice vote.
Kelly Sloczek, city clerk of Alpha, testified remotely that Alpha is seeking the second half of its 2023 LGA payment of $18,472, withheld after the city missed a state audit deadline. Sloczek said the delay resulted from the prior city clerk leaving without completing records; she said she started in September, reorganized paperwork, and the city has met reporting deadlines since her arrival. "This payment of the $18,472 will definitely help get the city back on the right track," she told the committee.
A nonpartisan committee staff member (Miss Highmark) explained the fiscal treatment: Alpha’s withheld payment would affect fiscal 2025, while the cities added by amendment (Oden and Trotsky) had withheld payments within the current biennium and so would not affect the same fiscal forecast.
Representative Fogelman renewed his motion that House File 2800 as amended be recommended passed and laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
No formal opposition was recorded. The committee did not adopt additional conditions; the bill will proceed to omnibus negotiations.
