200.8 Inspection fees.

1. a. There shall be paid by the licensee to the secretary for all commercial fertilizers and soil conditioners sold, or distributed in this state, an inspection fee to be fixed annually by the secretary of agriculture at not more than twenty cents per ton. Sales for manufacturing purposes only are hereby exempted from fees but must still be reported showing manufacturer who purchased same. Payment of said inspection fee by any licensee shall exempt all other persons, firms or corporations from the payment thereof.

b. On individual packages of specialty fertilizer containing twenty-five pounds or less, there shall be paid by the manufacturer in lieu of the semiannual inspection fee as set forth in this chapter, an annual registration and inspection fee of one hundred dollars for each brand and grade sold or distributed in the state. In the event that any manufacturer sells specialty fertilizer in packages of twenty-five pounds or less and also in packages of more than twenty-five pounds, this annual registration and inspection fee shall apply only to that portion sold in packages of twenty-five pounds or less, and that portion sold in packages of more than twenty-five pounds shall be subject to the same inspection fee as fixed by the secretary of agriculture as provided in this chapter.

c. Any person other than a manufacturer who annually offers for sale, sells, or distributes specialty fertilizer in the amount of four thousand pounds or more or applies specialty fertilizer for compensation shall pay an annual inspection fee of thirty dollars in lieu of the semiannual inspection fee as set forth in this chapter.

2. Every licensee and any person required to pay an annual registration and inspection fee under this chapter in this state shall:

a. File not later than the last day of January and July of each year, on forms furnished by the secretary, a semiannual statement setting forth the number of net tons of commercial fertilizer or soil conditioners distributed in this state by grade for each county during the preceding six months’ period; and upon filing such statement shall pay the inspection fee at the rate stated in subsection 1 of this section. However, in lieu of the semiannual statement by grade for each county, as hereinabove provided for, the registrant, on individual packages of specialty fertilizer containing twenty-five pounds or less, shall file not later than the last day of July of each year, on forms furnished by the secretary, an annual statement setting forth the number of net tons of specialty fertilizer distributed in this state by grade during the preceding twelve-month period.

b. If the tonnage report is not filed or the payment of inspection fees, or both, is not made within ten days after the last day of January and July of each year as required in paragraph “a” of this subsection, a penalty amounting to ten percent of the amount due, if any, shall be assessed against the licensee. In any case, the penalty shall be no less than fifty dollars. The amount of fees due, if any, and penalty shall constitute a debt and become the basis of a judgment against the licensee.

3. If there is an unencumbered balance of funds from the amount of the fees deposited in the general fund pursuant to sections 200.9 and 201A.11 on June 30 of any fiscal year equal to or exceeding three hundred fifty thousand dollars, the secretary of agriculture shall reduce the per ton fee provided for in subsection 1 and the annual license fee established pursuant to section 201A.3 for the next fiscal year in such amount as will result in an ending estimated balance of such funds for June 30 of the next fiscal year of three hundred fifty thousand dollars.

4. In addition to the fees imposed under subsection 1, a groundwater protection fee shall be imposed upon nitrogen-based fertilizer. The fee shall be based upon the percentage of actual nitrogen contained in the product. An eighty-two percent nitrogen solution shall be taxed at a rate of seventy-five cents per ton. Other nitrogen-based product formulations shall be taxed on the percentage of actual nitrogen contained in the formulations with the eighty-two percent nitrogen solution serving as the base. The fee shall be paid by each licensee registering to sell fertilizer to the secretary of agriculture. The fees collected shall be deposited in the agriculture management account of the groundwater protection fund. The secretary of agriculture shall adopt rules for the payment, filing, and collection of groundwater protection fees from licensees in conjunction with the collection of registration and inspection fees. The secretary shall, by rule, allow an exemption to the payment of this fee for fertilizers which contain trace amounts of nitrogen.

[C46, 50, 54, §200.15; C58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §200.8]

85 Acts, ch 142, §1; 87 Acts, ch 225, §206, 207; 88 Acts, ch 1169, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1107, §46; 96 Acts, ch 1096, §2, 15; 96 Acts, ch 1219, §34; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263

Referred to in §200.9, 455E.11