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Secretary of State outlines 454 current fees, system upgrade planned for next summer
Summary
Secretary Michael Howe told the Government Finance Committee the office catalogued roughly 456 fees in the 21‑23 biennium (now 454 after legislative changes) and that most fee revenue flows to the general fund; the office retains a limited set of fees for operations. Howe said a modernization of the "First Stop" business portal to version 5 is on
Secretary of State Michael Howe told the Government Finance Committee that his office’s inventory identified roughly 456 statutory fees during the 2021–23 biennium (two were removed by recent legislation, reducing the count to 454 in current law), and that most fee revenue is deposited to the state general fund while the office retains a small share for operations.
"We have 456 fees," Howe said, and he walked members through fee categories: about 415 business and licensing filing fees (ranging from small copy fees to formation and annual filings), roughly 40 lien and central‑indexing fees and a set of subscription and data‑list fees that may be partially retained by the office to support system costs.
Howe said the office collected roughly $17 million in fee revenue in the most recent biennium; most of that goes to the general fund and the Secretary of State retains about $2.5 million to support agency operations (primarily technology and system updates). He noted the First Stop business portal (currently in version 2) is scheduled to be upgraded to version 5 and that the office expects a public rollout by next June to improve back‑end flexibility and reduce programming costs tied to statutory changes.
Why it matters: statutory fees are a material revenue source for the general fund and also determine the operational resources available to the collecting agencies; the committee is engaged in a multi‑interim statutory review required by Century Code.
What’s next: the Secretary offered to work with the committee on fee consolidation options or comparisons if the legislature wants; OMB/Budget Section staff and the Secretary of State will continue providing fee inventories and recommendations as the study progresses.
