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Committee reviews fee increases in House Bill 400, including LLC annual fee hike
Summary
Senate members reviewed House Bill 400, which updates long-unchanged Department of State fees and raises certain LLC filing fees to $400; members questioned whether the increases matched the Department's request and staff reported no public comment before circulating the bill.
Senator Brian Townsend presented House Bill 400 as part of broader budget-mitigation measures tied to projected revenue shortfalls, saying the measure updates a range of Department of State fees that in many cases have not been adjusted for decades. He told the committee the bill affects filings including bank or trust company filings, trademark or service mark applications, foreign corporation annual reports and LLC filing fees, noting many had last been changed in the 1990s and one report fee was last modified in 2019.
Townsend said the legislation would raise the annual LLC fee to $400, a figure he described as bringing the fee roughly to where it would have been had periodic adjustments continued. When Senator Pettyjohn asked whether the bill reflected the Secretary of State's original request, Townsend said most amounts matched the Department's proposal but that the Department had initially proposed a $50 increase for LLCs and "legislative leadership believe that a $100 is more appropriate," explaining the bill as introduced set a $100 increase.
Staff reported there were no in-person or virtual public commenters on House Bill 400; the committee noted written comments would be accepted up to 24 hours after adjournment and circulated the bill for further review. No vote was taken during the meeting.
