ELECTRONIC RECORD FEES

House Bill 4075 as introduced

Sponsor:  Rep. Bruce R. Rendon

Committee:  Local Government

Complete to 2-24-15

SUMMARY:

House Bill 4075 would amend Public Act 161 of 1895, a law that requires county treasurers to furnish transcripts and abstracts of records.   The bill specifies that the maximum charge for an electronic copy of a record would be 25 cents per parcel record, not to exceed $1,500 for each request, if the request was for an electronic copy of records in a "qualified data file"[1] that was maintained by the county treasurer.  Under the bill, a county treasurer's response to a request for an electronic copy would have to be transmitted electronically using a format that was documented by an open standards organization, and that had defined, delimited fields.

The bill also prohibits copies of records obtained in this manner from being resold for a commercial purpose.

Further, the law now specifies the fees a citizen pays when requesting copies of particular records that are on file at the office of the county treasurer.  Currently, for statements concerning the payment of taxes under the General Property Tax Act, the county treasurer receives 20 cents for each description of land, but the total amount paid cannot be less than $1.  House Bill 4075 would specify that the total amount paid shall not be less than $5.  In addition, the law specifies that a county treasurer charge 25 cents for each requested description of land on a list of state tax lands or state bids.  House Bill 4075 would eliminate this provision in its entirety. Finally, the bill requires that all money collected under the act be credited to the general fund of the county. 

MCL 48.101

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

A similar bill passed the House during the 2013-2014 legislative session with the support of county officials and realtors.

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 4075 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on counties.  Any fiscal impact would depend upon the manner in which the county changed its current fee schedule for copies, both paper and electronic, of records covered under the provision of the bill.  For counties that charged an amount that exceeded $1,500 for electronic record requests for records in a qualified data file maintained by the county treasurer there would be a loss of revenue due to the proposed cap of $1,500.

                                                                                        Legislative Analyst:   Chris Couch

                                                                                                Fiscal Analyst:   Ben Gielczyk

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.

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