Report 2005-123 Recommendation 1 Responses

Report 2005-123: Department of Corporations: It Needs Stronger Oversight of Its Operations and More Efficient Processing of License Applications and Complaints (Release Date: January 2007)

Recommendation #1 To: Corporations, Department of

To strengthen its operational oversight, Corporations should seek legislative authority allowing it to set fees by regulation. This legislative authority should require that Corporations annually assess its fee rates and establish fees that are reasonably related to its cost of providing the services supported by its fees. Corporations should also factor in the amount of any excess reserves when conducting its annual assessment.

1-Year Agency Response

Corporations submitted a placeholder bill, Assembly Bill 1516, which would have allowed the commissioner to adjust fees to reflect the actual cost of regulatory services for each law and program. However, the Legislature chose to maintain the existing structure outlined in statute.

Corporations currently has statutory authority to make the adjustments necessary to eliminate deficits in some programs and indicated it has done so to the extent possible. For those programs where there is a cap on the assessed fee that limits its ability to make adjustments, Corporations stated it has adjusted the fee to the extent it could to eliminate the deficit in two fiscal years. Additionally, Corporations stated it would annually review its other rates to determine if the fees are sufficient to support program activities. Corporations also stated it would request a fee adjustment from the Legislature for programs that have fees set in statute and have a deficit or surplus. Finally, Corporations has completed its review of the reimbursement rate for examinations performed and the appropriate adjustments have been made. (See 2009-406, p. 30)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Subsequent to the original publication of this response, the state auditor considered this recommendation to be fully implemented.

All Recommendations in 2005-123

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.