House Committee on Local Government (01/29/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	01/29/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	09:44 AM to 12:15 PM	Acree	*
		Bradford	X
Place:	HCR 0111	Liston	X
		McKinley	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Middleton	X
	Representative Peniston	Schafer S.	*
		Tipton	X
This Report was prepared by		Vigil	X
	Raegan Robb	Waller	X
		Soper	X
		Peniston	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB09-1131 HB09-1130 HB09-1135		Postponed Indefinitely Amended, Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

09:45 AM

Representative Peniston, chair, called the meeting to order.

09:45 AM -- House Bill 09-1131

Representative Gerou, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1131, concerning a training program for directors of fire protection districts in wild land-urban interface areas. Representative Gerou indicated that Senate Bill 08-039 created the Wild Land-Urban Interface Training Fund to fund a training program for directors of fire protection districts. Senate Bill 08-039 provided funding from gifts, grants, and donations; but House Bill 09-1131 would appropriate $8,000 annually from the General Fund to the Division of Fire Safety to train fire district directors. She explained that the cost of funding fire protection district directors will be included in a larger, omnibus bill during the 2009 legislative session. Representative Gerou requested that the committee postpone House Bill 09-1131 indefinitely.


BILL:	HB09-1131
TIME:	09:46:33 AM
MOVED:	Middleton
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 09-1131 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 9-0-2 vote.
SECONDED:	Waller
		VOTE
	Acree	Yes
	Bradford	Yes
	Liston	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Middleton	Yes
	Schafer S.	Excused
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	Soper	Excused
	Peniston	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

09:48 AM -- House Bill 09-1130

Representative B. Gardner, prime sponsor of House Bill 09-1130, concerning the collection of sales taxes by a county government, presented the bill. Representative Gardner explained that the bill addresses challenges in sales tax collection by counties and municipalities in the state. The introduced version of the bill authorized any county to collect, administer, and enforce its own sales tax adopted in accordance with the municipal sales tax laws. Representative Gardner discussed the need for a strike-below amendment and introduced prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A).

09:57 AM

Geoff Wilson, representing the Colorado Municipal League, testified against the introduced version of the bill and explained that municipalities depend largely on sales tax collections. Mr. Wilson explained that the Colorado Municipal League supported the new version of the bill proposed in amendment L.001 (Attachment A).

09:59 AM

Nicola Sapp, representing El Paso County, testified for the bill, discussed lost sales tax revenue for El Paso County that was not collected correctly, and distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment B). Ms. Sapp discussed problems with the collection of sales tax and talked about the need to allow counties to control the collection and auditing of sales tax. She explained that she supported the prepared amendment and responded to questions from the committee members concerning the current process of sales tax collection and where errors may occur in the process of sales tax collection by counties.

10:08 AM

Representative Gardner addressed questions from the committee members concerning shortfalls in sales tax collection. He explained that the amendment would allow for intergovernmental agreements between a county and the executive director of the Department of Revenue to enhance efficiencies in the collection of county sales taxes.

10:10 AM

Joe Kerby, County Manager, Montrose County, testified in support of the bill and discussed recent sales taxes approved by voters in Montrose County. Mr. Kerby discussed difficulties in collecting a county sales tax from local businesses.

10:22 AM

Mark Couch, representing the Department of Revenue, testified on the bill, explained the department's role in sales tax collection, and talked about the process for establishing memorandums of understanding for sales tax collection.

10:24 AM

Representative Gardner made closing comments on the bill and discussed prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A).


BILL:	HB09-1130
TIME:	10:25:34 AM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Acree
	Bradford
	Liston
	McKinley
	Middleton
	Schafer S.
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Waller
	Soper
	Peniston

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

10:26 AM

The committee discussed the amended version of the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1130
TIME:	10:26:23 AM
MOVED:	Liston
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 09-1130, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 11-0 vote.
SECONDED:	Acree
		VOTE
	Acree	Excused
	Bradford	Yes
	Liston	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Middleton	Yes
	Schafer S.	Excused
	Tipton	Yes
	Vigil	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Peniston	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:35 AM

The committee stood in a brief recess.

10:39 AM -- House Bill 09-1135

Representative Judd, prime sponsor of House Bill 09-1135, concerning the adjustment of fees imposed by counties in the state, presented the bill. He explained that the bill increases the amount of specified fees collected by county treasurers, clerks and recorders, and sheriffs. Representative Judd explained that the bill would establish uniform fees that will be adjusted by the executive director of the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) every other year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). He explained that the fees will be adjusted on a mathematical formula in 50-cent increments, and spoke to an amendment that will adjust this mathematical formula to round down. He talked about the authority for county treasurers, clerks and recorders, and sheriffs to collect fees and the need to clarify these powers in state law. He also explained that DOLA will maintain a public schedule of the fees and make the schedule available on the department's web site.

10:51 AM

Representative Judd responded to questions from the committee members concerning fees charged by counties. He explained that uniform fees already exist in law in regard to the amount that counties may collect and explained that the bill will adjust these fees according to the formula provided in the bill. He discussed the need to maintain uniform county fees throughout the state according to the formula established in the bill. Representative Judd responded to questions concerning the formula in the bill and the adjustment for the CPI. Committee discussion ensued concerning the CPI being used to adjust the county fees according to the bill.

11:08 AM

Joseph Gang, Boulder County Sheriff's Department, testified in support of the bill and discussed the need for county fees to adjust for inflation. He discussed specific expenses incurred by the sheriffs' departments and talked about the difficulty for county fees that are established in state law and have not been reset since 1996 to meet expenses. Mr. Gang responded to questions concerning alternative resources that are available to counties to help compensate for fees that do not meet the expenses incurred by counties.

11:18 AM

Bob Hullinghorst, Boulder County Treasurer, testified in support of the bill and discussed the need to increase fees for county treasurers that are currently established in state law. Mr. Hullinghorst talked about county departments using more county general funds and discussed the need to help compensate for fees that do not meet the expenses incurred by the county.

11:24 AM

Carol Snyder, representing the Colorado Public Trustees Association, and Pam Anderson, representing the Colorado County Clerks Association, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Snyder explained that public trustees operate solely off of processing fees, and she discussed a prepared amendment that addresses fees charged by public trustees. She explained the standard workload and processing for public trustees and talked about the need to implement uniform fees throughout the state.

11:30 AM

Ms. Anderson discussed the changes to county fee structures to assist county clerks and recorders and compensate for fees that do not meet the expenses incurred by county clerks and recorders.

11:35 AM

Ms. Snyder and Ms. Anderson addressed questions concerning the bill and the need to clarify county clerk and recorder fees in state law.

11:37 AM

Kymm Walter, representing the Land Title Association of Colorado, testified on the bill and distributed a handout to the committee concerning changes in recording fees established in Section 30-1-103(4) (Attachment C). He explained that recording fees were being charged pursuant to state law and talked about specific cases where counties are implementing extra recording fees that can confuse the processing of various land title documents. He discussed a prepared amendment that will provide clarity and uniformity for recording fees assessed by counties.

11:43 AM

Andy Karsian, representing Colorado Counties, Inc., testified on the bill and explained that this bill was a significant priority for counties throughout the state for the 2009 legislative session.

11:45 AM

Andrew MacDonald, Boulder County Sheriff's Department, testified on the bill and explained that the mileage rate in state law should be tied to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gas mileage estimation, rather than the CPI.

11:46 AM

Bruce Eisenhauer, Deputy Director, Department of Local Affairs, testified on the bill and talked about the CPI that is applied in the bill to adjust the county fees and described the department's role in adjusting the county fees. Mr. Eisenhauer and Representative Judd addressed questions from the committee members concerning the CPI and the adjustment of other fees addressed in the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1135
TIME:	11:54:35 AM
MOVED:	Middleton
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Tipton
		VOTE
	Acree
	Bradford
	Liston
	McKinley
	Middleton
	Schafer S.
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Waller
	Soper
	Peniston

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1135
TIME:	11:56:17 AM
MOVED:	Middleton
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment E). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Schafer S.
		VOTE
	Acree
	Bradford
	Liston
	McKinley
	Middleton
	Schafer S.
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Waller
	Soper
	Peniston

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1135
TIME:	11:57:05 AM
MOVED:	Waller
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.005 (Attachment F). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Schafer S.
		VOTE
	Acree
	Bradford
	Liston
	McKinley
	Middleton
	Schafer S.
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Waller
	Soper
	Peniston

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1135
TIME:	11:58:11 AM
MOVED:	Middleton
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.007 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Schafer S.
		VOTE
	Acree
	Bradford
	Liston
	McKinley
	Middleton
	Schafer S.
	Tipton
	Vigil
	Waller
	Soper
	Peniston

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB09-1135
TIME:	12:04:15 PM
MOVED:	Schafer S.
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-1135, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 5-3-3 vote.
SECONDED:	Vigil
		VOTE
	Acree	Yes
	Bradford	Excused
	Liston	Excused
	McKinley	Excused
	Middleton	Yes
	Schafer S.	Yes
	Tipton	No
	Vigil	Yes
	Waller	No
	Soper	No
	Peniston	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 3 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:15 PM

The committee adjourned.