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 http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor
Division of the Budget
March 19, 2024
The Honorable Sean Tarwater, Chairperson
House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 346-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Tarwater:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2788 by House Committee on Commerce, Labor and
Economic Development
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2788 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2788 would require the Secretary of Commerce to provide the Legislature with a
summary report as a readily accessible reference for reviewing the state’s investment in economic
development incentive programs. The report would summarize information currently provided in
various statutorily required reports as well as information on the total number of businesses and
individuals who have participated in economic development incentive programs, the total amount
of benefits provided for each economic development incentive program, the maximum amount of
remaining development incentive program obligations to benefit recipients, and a summary of a
return-on-investment analysis of each development incentive program. The report would be due
to the Legislature the second week of each regular legislative session beginning with the 2025
regular legislative session.
Under current law, the Department of Commerce is required to maintain an economic
development incentive program database to collect and store incentive data from state agencies
charged with administering economic development incentive programs that provide more than
$50,000 of annual incentives. The bill would require the database to be configured to provide
comprehensive reports of the incentive data. The information would be required to be posted on
the Department’s Economic Development Incentive Program database for those programs that are
active on January 1, 2026.
The bill would require cities and counties to report local economic development incentive
program information to the Department of Commerce. Providing the information would be a The Honorable Sean Tarwater, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2788
condition of commencing an economic development incentive program by a city or county on and
after January 1, 2026. The information would be due to the Department within 30 days of the
commencement of the program. The cities and counties would be required to provide annual
updates on the programs. The Department would use this information to prepare the summary
report for the Legislature. The bill would also expand the definition of an economic development
incentive program to include community improvement districts, tax increment financing, business
improvement districts, self-supported municipal improvement districts, Neighborhood
Revitalization Act, Downtown Redevelopment Act, transportation development districts, public
improvement districts, state tax and revenue bonds, industrial development bonds, Qualified
Manufacturer Act, and federal enclave redevelopment districts.
Currently, the Kansas Taxpayer Transparency Act requires the Department of
Administration to operate a single, searchable website accessible to the public that includes the
state’s annual expenditures, annual revenues, and annual bond indebtedness. The bill would
require the Department to update its website to include grants awarded by state agencies that use
state or federal funds and a list of applicants that applied for the grants, along with the applicant’s
name, county where the proposed project would be located, description of the proposed project,
dollar amount requested, and the date the agency received the application. The information would
be required to be posted within 30 days of awarding a grant.
The Department of Commerce indicates it would need to hire 2.00 Program Specialist FTE
positions at a cost of $189,000 from the State General Fund in FY 2025. The positions would
create the new report and add the new reporting to the Department’s database. The agency would
work with more than 600 communities in Kansas to gather necessary information under HB 2788.
The agency would also need to update its database to include the new reporting at an estimated
cost of $106,080 (480 hours X $221/hour) from the State General Fund in FY 2025.
Under HB 2788, the Department of Administration and other state agencies that award
grants would incur costs for accumulating, providing, and publishing the grant award data as well
as implementation and maintenance costs that would need to come from each individual agency.
Currently, the Department updates its website, KanView, once each year following the close of
the fiscal year. The additional information the bill requires to be posted within 30 days would
require affected agencies and the Department to implement monthly on-going maintenance efforts
both to ensure application and award information is posted timely. The Department would expend
$15,000 from the State General Fund to develop a KanView portal in FY 2025 for agencies to
upload the required data. The Department would hire an additional .95 FTE position to fulfill the
requirement to report grant award information on KanView at an annual cost of $72,930 from the
State General Fund starting in FY 2025.
In FY 2023, there were 54 state agencies that awarded grants. The Department of
Administration reports that none of the grant data required under the bill is available within the
state’s central accounting or payroll systems. The information resides with the individual agencies,
and agencies generally use their own grant program administration systems and processes. The
State of Kansas recently implemented an eCivis software program which provides grant-tracking
capabilities; however, it is anticipated that some state agencies with existing systems would retain
those systems. The eCivis software contract is currently being paid by the Office of Recovery The Honorable Sean Tarwater, Chairperson
Page 3—HB 2788
with federal funds at a cost of $262,680. However, the agencies that would use the system would
assist in paying that cost at some point in the future. Those agencies that retain their current
systems would incur a one-time interface development cost of $36,120 that would be paid to the
Department in FY 2025. Those agencies would also incur ongoing maintenance costs of an
unknown amount. The Department estimates that there would be 300 users from various agencies
that would utilize the eCivis software. Each agency would pay an annual user license fee of $375
per user, which would total $112,500 (300 users X $375) in FY 2025. The total cost for FY 2025
would be $236,550 from various funding sources and FY 2026 would cost $185,430 from various
funding sources. The total costs for FY 2025 and FY 2026, does not include the $262,680 for the
eCivis software contract because it is already being paid for by the Office of Recovery, as noted
above. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2788 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s
Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities indicate the
counties and cities could require additional staff to report data required by HB 2788; however, the
Association and the League are unable to estimate the costs for additional staff.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Wendi Stark, League of Kansas Municipalities
Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
Sherry Rentfro, Department of Commerce
Lynn Robinson, Department of Revenue
Tamara Emery, Department of Administration
Brian Reiter, Office of Information Technology Services