Tim Fila, who ran the Harvester license fee office under the Republican administration of then-Gov. Matt Blunt, will keep the post under Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

The Missouri Department of Revenue this week announced that Fila was chosen in Nixon’s competitive bidding process over six other applicants for the office, which will continue to operate at 4217 South Old Highway 94.

Among the losing applicants was the Howell Foundation Inc., a nonprofit group that aids Francis Howell District schools. The foundation ran the fee office from 1999 to 2005.

Fila, of Lake Saint Louis, was initially chosen by Blunt’s administration in 2005 at the recommendation of Jon Dolan, who was then a Republican state senator from Lake Saint Louis.

Fee offices, which sell driver’s and motor vehicle licenses, under past governors of both parties were handed out with no bidding process and many went to people with political connections.

When I asked Fila about his political affiliation, he said it would be difficult to pin a party label on him. He also said he hadn’t donated to Nixon’s campaign.

In 2005, Dolan had said Fila planned to distribute some of the office’s profits to benefit Howell schools and to other schools. Fila said the office indeed had donated to charities, including the Howell Foundation, but that would stop in the future. Instead, he said, he would return some of the office profits to the state above what the state normally gets from the license sales.

The Revenue Department, in a news release announcing the selection of Fila, said the Harvester license office would return six percent of its estimated first-year profits - or nearly $28,000 - to the state. Chris Pieper, a department official, said how much of an applicant’s profits are given to the state is part of the formula used to determine who wins a bid.

Daniel Brown, who heads the Howell Foundation, said the amount donated by Fila’s office to the foundation had gradually been reduced over the years.

The only other fee office in St. Charles County awarded so far by Nixon - the St. Charles city fee office - went to longtime Democratic Party donor Ken Kielty last month. That stirred criticism from the Missouri Republican Party, whose executive director complained that Kielty was among several Democratic contributors getting fee offices despite the new bid system.

Nixon and his staff have defended the process, pointing out that a mixture of Democrats, Republicans and nonprofit groups have won bids.

Kielty and his wife, Lucinda Kielty, were chosen over three other applicants. The Republican who held the office under Blunt - Ernie Dempsey, the father of GOP state Sen. Tom Dempsey - did not apply to keep the post under Nixon, Kielty said. 

The transition at the St. Charles office, at 2499 Raymond Drive, will be friendly because Kielty and Dempsey, despite their differing party ties, are business partners. They co-own the building housing the agency with former state Sen. Fred Dyer, R-St. Charles.

By the way, the Kieltys announced that the St. Charles office will be closed next Monday and Tuesday (July 13-14) for a state inventory. The office will reopen July 15 at 9 a.m.