House floor debate over city administrative fees sends HB405 to file after tie vote

A prolonged floor discussion on first substitute House Bill 405 — concerning city or town sales and use taxes to fund botanical, cultural, recreational and zoological facilities — centered on whether the substitute improperly diverted program money to administration by allowing a 1.5% administrative allocation.

Representative Sandstrom, sponsor of the substitute, said the change aligns city administrative authority with county practice and would allow cities that already operate local option tax boards to collect a small administrative fee. Critics including Representative Harper said the change effectively takes program funds and diverts them to administration; Representative Dougal noted statutory language historically authorized counties to take 1.5% but did not clearly authorize municipalities to do the same.

The debate culminated in a call of the House, a motion to lift the call and final votes. The clerk recorded a 36‑36 tie on final passage; the motion failed and the bill was filed. Sponsors indicated the dispute arose from statutory ambiguity about whether cities may receive the administrative allocation and from differing local practice on use of funds.

Because no final passage occurred, there is no implementation plan or assigned department; any future effort to reintroduce similar language will need explicit statutory authorization for municipal administrative fees or clearer drafting.