Kiffmeyer drops fee after DFL foe called for cuts

08/31/2006

Star Tribune
Last update: August 30, 2006 – 10:42 PM

Shortly after her DFL opponent called for cutting office fees, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer announced she is eliminating a $20 business filing fee for fast counter service, saying the extra charge “simply padded the state’s general fund.”

An announcement on the policy change was put together late Tuesday and faxed to news organizations around 10 p.m., not long after Mark Ritchie, the DFL Party’s endorsed candidate for Kiffmeyer’s job, called for fee reductions.

“The Office of Secretary of State should not balance the state’s budget on the backs of small businesses and charities,” Ritchie said Tuesday. “These extra charges serve as hidden taxes that make it harder for small businesses and nonprofits to survive.”

Kiffmeyer, secretary of state since 1998, sounded a little like Ritchie in her news release, saying, “Like a lot of people, I have always questioned the existence of so many fees in government, so I’m very pleased to be able to eliminate this one.”

Shaun Denham, a spokesman for Kiffmeyer’s office, denied that the fee reduction was in response to Ritchie.

“This is something we’ve been planning on doing for months,” he said.