Sec. 22-54r. Assessment. Civil penalty.
Sec. 22-54r. Assessment. Civil penalty. (a) There shall be paid by each apple
producer to the Commissioner of Agriculture an assessment sufficient to cover the costs
in the budget for implementation of the apple market order. The amount of the assessment shall be determined by the commissioner except that any assessment in excess of
six cents per first sale unit shall be approved by a referendum conducted in accordance
with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 22-54q. The initial one thousand first sale
units of any apple producer in each market season shall be exempt from the assessment.
(b) Each apple producer subject to the assessment shall submit a return to the commissioner either annually on the fifteenth day of each November or quarterly on the
fifteenth day of each November, February, May and August. The amount due shall be
based on the number of apples sold or removed from storage on or before the last day
of the month preceding the month the assessment is due. If the apple producer elects to
submit a return annually he shall calculate the amount due by considering seventy-five
per cent of his total harvest to be first sale units. The commissioner may require a
producer to submit additional documentation regarding the number of first sale units in
order to ensure that the assessment is proper. Any apple producer who fails to pay the
assessment required under this section may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than
one thousand dollars for each day during which such nonpayment continues after receipt
of an assessment under this subsection.
(c) Any revenues received during any marketing season and not expended may be
paid by the commissioner at the end of the marketing season on a pro-rata basis to those
apple producers who paid the assessment or may be carried over to the next marketing
season as the commissioner deems necessary.
(d) Any broker, distributor or handler who, at the request of the producer, deducts
the amount of the assessment due on the first sale units sold or transferred from storage,
shall be liable for accounting and payment of such assessment.
(e) Any money collected by the commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this
section shall not be deemed state funds and shall be deposited pursuant to section 4-33,
in a qualified public depository in Connecticut. Such funds shall be expended by the
commissioner for expenses incurred in administering the budget recommended by the
board.
(P.A. 91-77, S. 4; P.A. 95-141, S. 7; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e); P.A. 04-189, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 95-141 amended Subsec. (b) to authorize commissioner to require additional documentation from producers and to provide for a civil penalty for failure to pay the assessment; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner
of Agriculture with Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed
Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer
Protection, effective June 1, 2004.