Special session: Secretary of State urges corporate fee increases

Secretary of State Ross Miller on Wednesday told the Nevada Assembly that a series of fee increases could raise more than $8.5 million and restore services damaged by the last round of staff reductions.

"Service levels in our office have collapsed since the cuts," he said. "Additional cuts in my opinion would lead to collapse in the services we provide, resulting in significant loss of revenues."

The Secretary of State's office generates more than $100 million to help support the General Fund budget.

He said raising fees would let him restore staff, enabling his office to more than make up the cost of those employees while restoring the services that businesses need.

Most of the proposed fees apply to corporate entities required to register with the secretary of state.

Matthew Taylor of the Nevada Resident Agent's Association, whose members represent the majority of out-of-state businesses registered with the secretary's corporate division, told the Assembly that the group supports the fee hikes. He said resident agents are very concerned about the delays in services since the cuts to the secretary of state's office.

Assembly members voted to request a bill draft. Gov. Gibbons has, in the past, supported fee increases that are supported by the industry paying them.

Lawmakers are also considering the idea of pushing for increases in the Gaming Control Board's investigative fee schedule.

Those are hourly investigative fees primarily paid by applicants seeking a gaming license. Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander told the Assembly the proposed

10 percent cut would force him to lay off 31 people, which he said would affect his ability to regulate casino licensees.

Neilander said increasing the hourly investigative rate from $80 to $115 would generate more than $3 million and reduce the number of layoffs from 31 to seven.