2007 California Food and Agricultural Code Article 4. Refunds

CA Codes (fac:11480-11485)

11480.  "Fee," as used in this article, includes, but is not limited
to, any application fee, license fee, permit fee, inspection fee,
certification fee, registration fee, identification fee, analysis
fee, certificate fee, or delinquent fee.




11481.  (a) The director may authorize the refund of any money that
is received or collected by the department in the payment of any fee,
assessment, or tax, except that the director shall not authorize a
refund of any money received by the department pursuant to a
settlement agreement, stipulated judgment, or similar document or if
the refund request is submitted more than four years after the
payment was made.
   (b) An amount equal to the amount of the refund is,
notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, hereby
continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years, from the
funds into which the fees were deposited, to the director to make the
refunds.



11482.  A refund may be made in whole or in part in any of the
following instances:
   (a) A refund of a fee is requested by the payer before any
examination, review, inspection, or similar activity has been
performed or services rendered by the department for the payer.
   (b) The payment of a fee, assessment, or tax represents an
overpayment, payment in duplicate, payment in error in law, or
payment through error of the payer or the department.



11483.  The fiscal officer of the department shall make payment of
any refund pursuant to this article upon the submission to the fiscal
officer of a voucher prepared by the director, or his or her
designee, that sets forth the facts that pertain to the refund and
authorizes its payment.



11484.  If any money that is to be refunded has been deposited in
the State Treasury, the Controller, upon receipt of a claim that is
filed by the department, shall transfer that amount from the fund to
which the money is credited to the director for payment of the
refund.



11485.  If the director finds that the amount of any refund is less
than fifty dollars (), the director may retain the amount for use
for the same purpose for which the original payment was made, unless
the payment was made in error in law, in which case the director
shall refund the amount.