1997 Florida Code
TITLE XXXV AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND ANIMAL INDUSTRY
Chapter 593 Agricultural Commodity Insect Control  
593.114   Assessments.

593.114  Assessments.--

(1)  Assessments shall be collected by the department or its agent and deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Plant Industry Trust Fund. Except as otherwise provided herein, upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys received under the provisions of this section shall be remitted to the certified growers' organization subject to such terms and conditions as the department, after consultation with the board of directors of the cotton growers' organization, prescribes to ensure that the assessments are used in a sound program of boll weevil suppression and eradication.

(2)

(a)  All assessments shall be levied on a per acre basis.

(b)  Upon recommendation by the board of directors of the cotton growers' organization, the department shall establish a per acre assessment, the period for which it will be levied, and the geographical area to which it applies.

(c)  The assessment shall not exceed $35 per acre per year.

(3)

(a)  An assessment shall be levied upon all commercial cotton growers for each growing season on each acre or part of an acre where cotton was grown in this state in the corresponding amount described below:

Growing Season	Per-acre Assessment
1987	$5.00
1988	17.50
1989	25.00
1990	27.00
1991	14.00

The assessments levied for each part of an acre shall be prorated proportionally.

(b)  Any commercial cotton grower who has paid the entire per-acre assessment amount due pursuant to an assessment levied on or before March 16, 1992, for any growing season listed in paragraph (a) shall be considered paid in full for that growing season.

(c)  Any commercial cotton grower who has not paid in full the per-acre assessment due for any growing season in paragraph (a) shall remit the unpaid amount in the following manner:

1.  One-third of the total amount due for all growing seasons shall be remitted to the department on or before December 31, 1992.

2.  One-third of the total amount due for all growing seasons shall be remitted to the department on or before December 31, 1993.

3.  The remaining balance due for all growing seasons shall be remitted to the department on or before December 31, 1994.

(d)  Paragraph (c) shall not apply to any assessment levied under subsections (1) and (2) on or before January 1, 1992, if such assessment is upheld by the highest court of competent jurisdiction which has not been reversed by a higher court. Any such assessment shall be due and payable as originally assessed.

(e)  In the event any assessment made under subsections (1) and (2) prior to January 1, 1992, is upheld by the highest court of competent jurisdiction which has not been reversed by a higher court, any assessment paid under this subsection shall be credited toward the assessments made under subsections (1) and (2), and any assessment so paid and credited under subsections (1) and (2) shall not be payable under this subsection.

(f)  A commercial cotton grower who fails to pay any assessment levied under this section by the time periods listed in this subsection shall be subject to a penalty of not more than $25 per acre, such amount to be established by rule of the department.

(g)  The assessments shall be remitted to the certified growers' organization in the manner prescribed by this section.

(4)

(a)  If any assessment made under this chapter to defray the whole or any part of the expense of any eradication or suppression program is either in whole or in part annulled, vacated, or set aside by the judgment of any court, or if the department is satisfied that any such assessment is so irregular or defective that the same cannot be enforced or collected, or if the department fails to make such assessment when it might have done so, the department shall take all necessary steps to cause a new assessment to be made for the whole or any part of the cost of any eradication or suppression program, following as nearly as possible the provisions of this chapter, and, in case such second assessment is annulled, the department may obtain and make other assessments until a valid assessment is made.

(b)  The provisions of this subsection shall apply to any assessment levied under this chapter on or after May 1, 1987.

(5)  A commercial cotton grower who fails to pay any assessment levied under this chapter by the applicable due date shall be subject to interest on the unpaid assessment at the rate set forth in chapter 55. Such interest shall accrue from the date the assessment was due until payment.

History.--s. 14, ch. 87-55; s. 1, ch. 88-303; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 1, ch. 92-23.