(A) Each licensee shall file with the department of agriculture an annual tonnage report that includes the number of net tons of liming material sold or distributed to a non-licensee in this state, by county, by oxide and hydrate forms, and by grade as defined in section 905.54 of the Revised Code, within forty days after the thirty-first day of December of each calendar year. The inspection fee at the rate stated in division (B) of this section shall accompany this report.

(B) Each licensee who sells or distributes more than twenty-five hundred tons of agricultural liming material in this state shall pay to the department an inspection fee. The inspection fee is one fourth of one cent for each ton in excess of twenty-five hundred tons, as reported in the tonnage report required by division (A) of this section. The maximum inspection fee is three hundred dollars.

(C) If a tonnage report is not filed, or if the inspection fee is not paid within ten days after the due date, a penalty of ten per cent of the amount due, with a minimum penalty of ten dollars, shall be assessed against the licensee. The amount of fee due, plus penalty, shall constitute a debt and shall become the basis of a judgment against the licensee. Such remedy is in addition to the remedy provided in section 905.62 of the Revised Code.

(D) The director of agriculture may inspect the inventories, books, and records of any licensee in order to verify a tonnage report. If the director finds that a tonnage report is erroneous, the director may adjust the inspection fee, may assess any balance due against the licensee, and may impose a penalty not to exceed ten per cent of the balance due, or may refund any overpayment.

(E) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the pesticide, fertilizer, and lime program fund created in section 921.22 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996