58-1414A. IMPOSITION OF FEES. (1) There is hereby imposed, as of January 1, of each year, a fee upon owners of dry grazing land within the state of Idaho for the purpose of funding the activities and obligations of the Idaho rangeland resources commission. The fee shall be in the amount of two cents (2¢) per acre of dry grazing land. "Dry grazing land" is that category of land defined by the state tax commission for property tax purposes. No later than the third Monday in July, the county assessor shall provide the Idaho rangeland resources commission, via electronic media, an alphabetic list of the owners of dry grazing land in the county, as shown on the records of the county. The information on dry grazing land shall be provided as follows:

(a) Owner name;

(b) Billing address;

(c) County;

(d) Parcel identification number;

(e) Number of acres.

An owner of dry grazing land shall not be assessed the fee contained herein if the owner’s or owners’ legal representative signs an affidavit attesting under penalties of perjury that the dry grazing land is not utilized for grazing. The commission shall provide the form and the affidavit shall be filed with the commission prior to the second Monday in July of the current year. The commission shall file a duplicate copy of any affidavit received with the appropriate county assessor.

(2) In addition to the fees imposed in subsection (1) of this section, there is hereby imposed, as of January 1 of each year a fee of ten cents (10¢) per animal unit month on all domestic cattle and sheep utilizing state grazing lands in the state of Idaho. The Idaho department of lands is hereby directed to collect this fee in conjunction with its annual billing for rental of grazing lands and shall remit such collection to the Idaho rangeland resource committee on a monthly basis.

(3) In addition to the fees imposed in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, there is hereby imposed, as of January 1, of each calendar year, a fee of ten cents (10¢) per animal unit month on all domestic cattle and sheep utilizing United States forest service and bureau of land management lands in the state of Idaho if a joint exercise of powers agreement or memorandum of understanding has been entered into authorizing the collection of such a fee. The federal agencies shall, as part of their billing process, include provisions for the collection of this fee and remittance of the fee to the Idaho rangeland resources commission.

(4) The fee established in subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section, shall be a debt of the owner(s), lessee(s) or permittee(s) of the dry grazing land obligated to pay the fee and the fee shall be a debt owed the commission and may be collected by the commission using the normal process to recover a debt.

(5) Any person may request from the commission in writing, within thirty (30) calendar days after payment thereof, a refund of all or any portion of an assessment levied hereunder. The commission shall make the refund not later than sixty (60) days after receipt of refund request as long as the commission has received the moneys from the entity collecting the assessment.

(6) The commission may at its discretion, determine by a majority vote of the commission the minimum fees to be assessed as described in this section. Once such minimum fees have been adopted, the commission shall collect no fee owed pursuant to this section which is equal to or less than the minimum set by the commission. Prior to the adoption of minimum fees by the commission as described in this subsection, the minimum fee owed the commission shall be five dollars ($5.00) for the owners of dry grazing land as described in subsection (1) of this section. There shall be no minimum fee for the assessments described in subsections (2) or (3) of this section unless otherwise determined by the commission.

History:

[58-1414A added 1996, ch. 233, sec. 1, p. 761; am. 1998, ch. 117, sec. 1, p. 433.]