PROPOSED RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 00-02-084.
Title of Rule: Point of sale customer transaction fee (changes to rules relating to the collection of a transaction fee from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses).
Purpose: Temporarily reduces the amount charged as a transaction fee from 10% to 9.5% to correspond with the transaction fee costs needed to reimburse the contractor for providing automated license vending services to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.32.050.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 77.32.050.
Summary: Reduces the transaction fee charged to purchasers of hunting and fishing licenses to the minimum necessary to pay for the automated license vending system.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: Provides better public service, meets recommendations from the Office of the State Auditor, improves revenue collection, and improves data necessary for fish and wildlife management.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Evan Jacoby, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, 902-2930; Implementation: James Lux, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, 902-2444; and Enforcement: Bruce Bjork, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, 902-2927.
Name of Proponent: Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, governmental.
Agency Comments or Recommendations, if any, as to Statutory Language, Implementation, Enforcement, and Fiscal Matters: Provides for the minimum necessary transaction fee to create a more accurate licensing system and a more rapid return to the state for revenue collected.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The department is implementing a new automated licensing system that will be simpler and more convenient to our customers. Through SB 5020, the 1999 legislature provided authority to the Fish and Wildlife Commission to set a transaction fee to be used to pay a contractor to provide automated licensing privileges. The department has declared a successful bidder for the automated licensing system, and a transaction fee of 9.5% is needed to proceed with development and implementation of the system. The commission previously had set the transaction fee at 10% of the value of the license being purchased through WAC 220-50-180. The new system will reduce the time needed for a license transaction, reduce the time and paperwork burden on license dealers, improve the timeliness of revenue collection, and improve the accuracy of licensing information. It will also provide for sales using the Internet and interactive voice response which will provide additional opportunities to the public.
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: Reduces the amount charged license customers as a transaction fee from 10% to 9.5%.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The reduction of the transaction fee will not affect small businesses.
Section 201, chapter 403, Laws of 1995, does not apply to this rule adoption. Not hydraulic rules.
Hearing Location: Yakima Convention Center, 10 North 8th Street, Yakima, WA, on April 7-8, 2000, at 12:00 noon.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Debbie Nelson by March 31, 2000, TDD (360) 902-2295, or (360) 902-2267.
Submit Written Comments to: Evan Jacoby, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98504-1091, fax (360) 902-2944, by April 6, 2000.
Date of Intended Adoption: April 7, 2000.
February 28, 2000
Evan Jacoby
Rules Coordinator
The
point-of-sale transaction fee shall be used to operate an
automated recreational licensing system. This fee shall be
applied to all automated licensing system purchases of
recreational hunting and fishing licenses and, if authorized by
the commission pursuant to RCW 77.32.450(2), automated licensing
system fees paid for second animals ((if authorized by the
commission pursuant to RCW 77.32.450(2))). The transaction fee
shall be ten percent of the value of the license transaction,
excluding any applicable dealer fees except that for the period
July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2006, the transaction fee shall be
nine and one-half percent of the value of the license
transaction, excluding any applicable dealer fee.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.040 and 77.32.050. 00-02-049 (Order 99-234), § 220-55-180, filed 12/30/99, effective 1/30/00.]