Chapter 08: Fee Information

As required by RCW 43.135.055, unless otherwise exempted, fees may only be imposed or increased if approved by the Legislature. Legislation authorizing new or increased fees should be submitted through the agency request legislation process. New fees, extensions of existing fees, and all fee increases, whether or not legislation is required, must be part of the biennial budget submittal using OFM’s Request for New or Increased Fees form. Regardless of fee increases contained in individual decision packages, agencies must complete the Excel fee request form summarizing all fee increases proposed in the 2027-29 biennium. The fee request form must be an ABS attachment at submittal.

Pursuant to RCW 43.88.585, OFM must collect a 5-year history of agency fees, which OFM collects as part of agency biennial budget submittals to update the fee database maintained at https://fiscal.wa.gov/Revenue/StateImposedFees. Data from past agency submittals has been imported into ABS. All agency-imposed fees must be entered into the fee inventory section in ABS as part of an agency budget submittal.

Provide justification for any new, extended, or increased fee proposed for the 2027-29 biennium. Include the justification in the decision package (DP) related to the expenditure increase or create a separate DP if not submitting an expenditure increase request. The DP should include the following information:

1. Fee name
2. Current fee rate (FY2027)
3. Proposed fee rate
   1. FY2028
   2. FY2029
4. Incremental rate change for each year
   1. FY2028
   2. FY2029
5. Expected implementation date
6. Estimated additional revenue generated by the increase
   1. FY2028
   2. FY2029
7. Justification for the increase and discussion of consequences of not increasing the fee
8. Indication of any changes in who pays
9. Indication of any changes in methodology for determining the fee
10. Recommendation Summary (RecSum) code for the related expenditure request, if tied to a budget request
11. Alternatives considered to an increase
12. Indication of whether the fee increase requires a statutory change, i.e., legislation. If yes, submit a proposal as part of the agency request legislation process.