Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building                                                                        Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504                                                                    adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612                                Division of the Budget                            http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director                                                                          Laura Kelly, Governor


                                                  February 17, 2021


          The Honorable Jeff Longbine, Chairperson
          Senate Committee on Financial Institutions
          Statehouse, Room 235A-E
          Topeka, Kansas 66612
          Dear Senator Longbine:
                    SUBJECT:      Fiscal Note for SB 245 by Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and
                                  Insurance
                  In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 245 is
          respectfully submitted to your committee.
                 SB 245 would create the Kansas Grid Resiliency, Innovation and Dependability Act. The
          bill would give the Kansas Corporation Commission the authority to oversee and authorize the
          issuance of ratepayer-backed securitized bonds in order to finance property that is currently
          included in the rate base of an investor-owned utility in the state.

                                           Estimated State Fiscal Effect
                                      FY 2021        FY 2021            FY 2022        FY 2022
                                       SGF           All Funds           SGF          All Funds
             Revenue                           --               --              -- $250,000 per case
             Expenditure                       --               --              -- $250,000 per case
             FTE Pos.                           --               --                --                    --
                 The Kansas Corporation Commission indicates that enactment of SB 245 would result in
          expenditures of $250,000 per case for outside consulting and legal fees that would be necessary to
          review an application and meet the statutory standards set out in the bill. These expenditures
          would be paid for from the financing costs that would be included in the bonds and the costs would
          be ongoing. The agency estimates that there would be no more than two or three cases over a five-
The Honorable Jeff Longbine, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 245

to ten-year period. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 245 is not reflected in The FY 2022
Governor’s Budget Report.
        According to the Kansas Association of Counties, enactment of SB 245 could have some
fiscal effect on counties that have public utilities; however, the Association is unable to estimate
what that effect might be. The League of Kansas Municipalities indicates that enactment of the
bill would not have a fiscal effect on the cities of Kansas. Cities set their own property tax based
on the amount of taxes needed to fund city operations and any change in valuations shifts taxes
from one class to another class of property owners.


                                                     Sincerely,

                                                     Adam Proffitt
                                                     Director of the Budget

cc: Jake Fisher, KCC
    Wendi Stark, League of Municipalities
    Jay Hall, Association of Counties
Statutes affected: 
As introduced: 66-1239, 84-9