Bill Creating Fee For Using City And Town Accounting System (CTAS) to be Heard on February 11th

The bill proposed by the State Auditor would require cities using CTAS to pay a user fee.
(Published Feb 7, 2013)

Small cities and townships file audit reports with the State Auditor using the City and Township Accounting System (CTAS). Cities are currently not charged for using the software, but that would change if SF 255 (Saxhaug, DFL-Baudette) becomes law. The bill will be heard in the Senate Committee on State and Local Government on Monday, February 11th, at 3:00 p.m.

The revenue from the proposed fee would be used to pay for a necessary upgrade of the software. The bill requests a one-time appropriation of $250,000 to pay for the upgrade, and the user fees would be deposited in a special revenue fund to repay the state for the upgrade costs. After the upgrade is completed, the fees would go into the fund to pay for the “development, maintenance, and distribution” of the software.

Currently, approximately 320 cities and 1050 towns use the software. The bill does not establish an annual fee, but the State Auditor has indicated it would be approximately $300 per year.

Cities that are concerned about the fee or that have questions about the legislation should contact League staff. Click here for a link to a previous article on the subject.

Questions? Contact Patrick Hynes at phynes@lmc.org or at 651-281-1260 or Gary Carlson at phynes@lmc.org or at 651-281-1255.

* By posting you are agreeing to the LMC Comment Policy.