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Committee lays over bill to exempt delivered fuels from the retail delivery fee
Summary
Lawmakers and fuel industry representatives told the Transportation Committee the retail delivery fee as currently implemented burdens delivered-fuels businesses; the committee laid House File 2606 over to allow further work with the Department of Revenue and stakeholders.
Representative Dan Olson brought House File 2606, a bill to exempt delivered liquid fuels from Minnesota’s retail delivery fee, to the Transportation Finance and Policy Committee; committee members laid the measure over for further agency review and stakeholder negotiation.
Supporters from the delivered-fuels industry said the fee was an unintended consequence for their business model and imposes collection costs that can exceed the revenue the fee produces. “We believe it was an oversight that the delivered fuels industry was included in the original legislation,” said Dave Wagner, executive director of the Minnesota Propane Association. Wagner told the committee that three companies recorded 48,417 deliveries in six months but only about 4.8% of those deliveries triggered the delivery fee.
Dallas Fisher, director of government affairs for Fueling Minnesota, said the fee was designed to capture revenue from large retailers and frequent deliveries and that business-to-business deliveries to DOT construction sites, golf courses and other nondomestic customers were not intended targets. Fisher said conversations with the Department of Revenue showed the industry had been swept into the fee and urged statutory clarification.
Representative Cagle said the fee’s legislative intent should be reiterated to ensure the Department of Revenue applies it as lawmakers intended.
The committee recorded testimony from industry trade groups and the bill was laid over so authors, the Department of Revenue and MnDOT can reconcile statutory language and legislative intent.
Votes and next steps
- Action: House File 2606 laid over for possible inclusion; no final vote on policy language.
Details to note
- A fiscal estimate mentioned in testimony indicated roughly $20,000 in state revenue tied to the provision, while industry witnesses said collection costs to businesses can be substantially larger; witnesses described the scale of collections and compliance as a principal rationale for the exemption request. - The Department of Revenue and MnDOT were identified as parties to follow up with the bill author.
