CAP ON ELECTRONIC RECORD FEES                                                       H.B. 4075 (S-1):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

House Bill 4075 (Substitute S-1 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)

Sponsor:  Representative Bruce R. Rendon

House Committee:  Local Government

Senate Committee:  Local Government

CONTENT

The bill would amend Public Act 161 of 1895, which requires county treasurers to furnish transcripts and abstracts of records and sets the fees to be paid for them, to do the following:

-- Establish a maximum charge of 25 cents per parcel record, not to exceed $1,500, for each request for an electronic copy of records in a qualified data file maintained by a county treasurer.

-- Delete a requirement that a county treasurer collect a fee of 25 cents for each description of land on a requested list of State tax lands or State bids.

-- Increase from $1 to $5 the minimum fee a county treasurer must collect for descriptions of land contained in tax certificates filed with the register of deeds.

MCL 48.101                                                            Legislative Analyst:  Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have an unknown impact on county revenue. Increasing the minimum charge for statements of the payment of taxes on a parcel from $1 to $5 would increase county revenue. The proposed maximum charges for certain electronic records requests of 25 cents per parcel record, with a maximum of $1,500 per request, have the potential to reduce county revenue and result in fees that would not cover the cost of the services provided. The overall impact on a county would depend on the number, size, and type of requests received for tax statements and certain electronic records, and for an eligible charter county with a population over 2,000,000, the change from the current level of fees. The statute authorizes a charter county with a population of more than 2,000,000 to set its own fees for these services, with the requirement that the fees charged are not greater than the cost of providing the services. The bill would apply the proposed maximum charges of 25 cents per record and $1,500 maximum charge per request for electronic records in electronic format to a charter county with a population of more than 2,000,000. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, however, there are no counties in Michigan with a population of over 2,000,000.  Michigan's largest county in terms of population is Wayne County with a 2010 census of 1,820,584.

Date Completed:  5-11-15                                                  Fiscal Analyst:  Elizabeth Pratt

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.