2-3971.

Permit fees; inspection fees; other fees; rate.

(1)(a) As a condition precedent to the issuance of a permit pursuant to the Nebraska Milk Act, the annual permit fees shall be paid to the department on or before August 1 of each year as follows:

(i) Milk plant processing 100,000 or less pounds per month...$100.00;

(ii) Milk plant processing 100,001 to 2,000,000 pounds per month...$500.00;

(iii) Milk plant processing more than 2,000,000 pounds per month...$1,000.00;

(iv) Receiving station.........................$200.00;

(v) Plant fabricating single-service articles..$300.00;

(vi) Milk distributor..........................$150.00;

(vii) Transfer station.........................$100.00;

(viii) Milk tank truck cleaning facility.......$100.00;

(ix) Bulk milk hauler/sampler...................$25.00;

(x) Field representative........................$25.00;

(xi) Grade A Milk producer..............................No Fee; and

(xii) Manufacturing milk producer........................No Fee.

(b) On or before each August 1 a Milk Transportation Company shall pay twenty-five dollars for each milk tank truck in service on July 1 of the current year, but in no case shall the fee be less than one hundred dollars.

(2)(a) All milk or components of milk produced or processed in Nebraska and milk or components of milk shipped in for processing shall be subject to the payment of inspection fees as provided in this subsection.

(b) There shall be three categories of inspection fees as follows:

(i) The inspection fee for raw milk purchased directly off the farm by first purchasers shall have a maximum inspection fee of two and five-tenths cents per hundredweight for raw milk and shall be paid by first purchasers;

(ii) The inspection fee for milk processed by a milk plant shall be seventy-five percent of the fee paid by first purchasers and shall be paid by the milk plant; and

(iii) The inspection fee for components of milk processed shall be fifty percent of the fee paid by first purchasers and shall be paid by the milk plant.

(c) All fees shall be paid on or before the last day of the month for milk or components of milk produced or processed during the preceding month. Any unpaid fee shall be increased one and one-half percent each month beginning with the day following the date the fee was due. Any remaining amount due, including any unpaid charges previously made pursuant to this section, shall be increased at the same rate on the corresponding day of each succeeding month until paid. The purpose of increasing the fees is to cover the administrative costs associated with collecting fees, and all money collected as increased fees shall be remitted to the State Treasurer for credit to the Pure Milk Cash Fund.

(d) The director may raise or lower the inspection fees each year, but the fees shall not exceed the maximum fees set out in subdivision (b) of this subsection. The director shall determine the fees based on the estimated annual revenue and fiscal year-end fund balance determined as follows:

(i) The estimated annual revenue shall not be greater than one hundred seven percent of the program cash fund appropriations allocated for the Nebraska Milk Act;

(ii) The estimated fiscal year-end cash fund balance shall not be greater than seventeen percent of the program cash fund appropriations allocated for the act; and

(iii) All fee increases or decreases shall be equally distributed between categories to maintain the percentages set forth in subdivision (b) of this subsection.

(3) If any person required to have a permit pursuant to the act has been operating prior to applying for a permit, an additional fee of one hundred dollars shall be paid upon application.