59941-59958

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE
SECTION 59941-59958




59941.  The proration zone agent for each marketing program shall
collect, either for each primary certificate or for each secondary
certificate, or for both, a reasonable and proportional fee to be
fixed by the program committee, subject to the approval of the
director, so calculated as to provide an amount which is adequate to
defray the necessary expenses of instituting and carrying out the
marketing program and a proper proportion of the cost of the
maintenance of the department in the performance of duties which are
required by this chapter.


59942.  Any fee for primary certificates or secondary certificates
which is fixed by the program committee with the approval of the
director, pursuant to this article, is due and payable by each
producer upon all units of the commodity of the producer which are
subject to the certificates and constitutes a personal debt of the
producer.



59943.  If any producer has authorized a handler to obtain secondary
certificates and pay secondary certificate fees on behalf of the
producer, or the handler has been a party to noncompliance with
respect to payment for certificates or corresponding fees, the
amounts unpaid constitute a personal debt of the handler.



59943.5.  For the convenience of collecting any producer fees which
are established pursuant to this article, the director may collect
such fees from the handlers of the commodity which is being
regulated. Any handler that pays a fee for and on behalf of any
producer may deduct the producer fee from any money which is owed by
the handler to the producer. Any marketing program may require a
handler to deduct producer fees from any money which is owed by the
handler to the producer. Such producer fee deductions are hereby
declared to be trust funds held by the handler for the purposes of
the marketing program concerned and shall be timely remitted, with
fee reports, to the director.



59944.  The proportion of the fees which is payable to the
department may vary upon a seasonal basis for each program according
to the estimated expense to be incurred by the director in
administering the marketing program. The amount so required shall not
exceed 15 percent of the certificate fees which are collected by the
proration zone agent specifically for administrative purposes,
however, such 15 percent limit may be exceeded when it is approved by
the program committee, and, in addition, such proportion of fees
which are collected for any educational and trade stimulation
marketing program as may be required by the director to administer
the marketing program, which shall in no event exceed 5 percent of
the fees which are collected for such purpose, unless the payment of
a larger proportion of such funds is approved by the marketing
program committee for the marketing program.



59945.  Upon the request of any marketing program committee, the
director shall confer with the committee or its representatives prior
to fixing the amount or proportion of any fees of the marketing
program which are payable to the department for maintenance of the
department in the performance of the duties which are required by
this chapter.



59946.  All fees shall be deposited promptly by the proration zone
agent in a bank which is approved by the Director of Finance, and
shall be accounted for immediately to the Director of Food and
Agriculture. Each deposit shall be made in the name of the proration
zone under which the funds are collected.
   Any money which is so deposited may be invested and reinvested by
the Treasurer or marketing program committee in any of the securities
which are described in Article 1 (commencing with Section 16430) of
Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
or placed in a depository as provided in Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 16500) of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, and handled in the same manner as money in the State Treasury.
For these purposes, these moneys may also be combined with funds
which are determined by the director to be available for investment
pursuant to Section 58939. Any increment which is received from
investment, reinvestment, or deposit made by the Treasurer shall be
remitted to the marketing program committee. The Treasurer may deduct
from the remittance an amount equal to the reasonable cost incurred
in carrying out this section or may bill the marketing program
committee for the costs, and the marketing program committee shall
pay the costs from any money which is collected for it pursuant to
this chapter.



59947.  (a) The funds that are deposited pursuant to Section 59946
shall be disbursed by the director or the marketing program
committee, pursuant to regulations prescribed by him or her, only for
the expenditures that are incurred by the marketing program
committee in carrying out the specific purposes and provisions of the
marketing program, including all necessary expenses that are
incurred in the formulation, administration, and enforcement of the
marketing program, and expenses generated by the auditing requirement
imposed by subdivision (b).
   (b) All expenditures shall be audited at least once every two
years by one of the following means:
   (1) By contract with a certified public accountant.
   (2) By contract with a public accountant holding a valid permit
issued by the California Board of Accountancy.
   (3) By contract with a public accounting firm.
   (4) By agreement with the Department of Finance.
   A copy of the audit shall be delivered, within 30 days after the
completion of the audit, to the Governor, the director, and the
Controller.



59948.  The proportionate amount of fees which are payable to the
department shall be withdrawn from the funds monthly by the director
and shall be used only for the department in carrying out its duties
as required by this chapter.


59949.  At the end of any marketing season as designated in each
marketing program, after proper provision has been made for the
payment of all necessary expense which is incurred in connection with
the marketing season, any money which remains to the credit of the
marketing program committee may be refunded upon a pro rata basis to
all persons from whom certificate fees were collected.
   During any marketing season, however, the marketing program
committee may, with the approval of the director, carry forward any
unexpended balances for expenditure during seasons subsequent to the
season during which such fees were collected. Alternatively, the
refund may, upon the resolution of the marketing program committee
and with the approval of the director, be deferred so as to permit
the marketing program committee to use the residual funds to meet
operating expenses in the succeeding season or until sufficient funds
have been collected, or the collection of sufficient funds is
assured, to enable the committee to make the refund and to defray the
expenses of the then current marketing season, including an
allowance for preliminary expenses of the next succeeding season.



59950.  At the time a refund is made, the marketing program
committee shall file with the director a claim for the refund to
growers that are entitled to such refund. If the director finds that
as of the end of any marketing season the amount which remains to the
credit of the marketing program committee is so small as to make
impractical the computation and remitting of the pro rata refund, he
may authorize the transfer of the funds to the then current marketing
season for expenditure in carrying out the marketing program.



59951.  Unexpended balances of any money which is collected to carry
out the educational and trade stimulation efforts which are provided
for in Sections 59816, 59817, and 59818 which are sufficient in
amount to warrant incurring the expense of making a refund shall be
refunded following the termination of any marketing program which
contains provisions which are authorized by those sections or
following the suspension or termination of educational and trade
stimulation provisions of any marketing program. The refund shall be
made upon such pro rata basis as the program committee and the
director determine is equitable.


59952.  If the unexpended balance is so small as to make impractical
the computation and remitting of a pro rata refund, the director may
authorize the transfer of the funds to the administrative account of
the marketing program or to the Department of Agriculture Fund for
the support of the department in carrying out its duties in the
administration of this chapter.



59953.  Unless otherwise requested by the marketing program
committee, the director is not required to issue refunds to any
producer in an amount less than five dollars ($5).



59954.  Any check or warrant which is drawn against the fund of any
marketing program which remains unclaimed or uncashed for a period of
six months from the date of issuance shall be canceled and the money
retained for disbursement to the original payee or claimant upon
satisfactory identification for a period of one year from the time
the check or warrant is canceled. The money so retained, if not
claimed within the period of one year, shall be credited to the then
currently operating marketing program for the commodity pursuant to
which the funds so retained were collected.



59955.  If there is no marketing program then in effective operation
for the commodity, the funds shall be credited to the unexpended
balance, if any, of the last previous marketing program for the
commodity. If there is no marketing program then in current operation
or no balance exists from any previous marketing program to which
the funds may be credited, the funds so retained may be expended by
the director for the benefit of any marketing program established
under the provision of this chapter.



59956.  An agent or employee of the marketing program committee
shall not have or receive any funds which are collected pursuant to
this chapter until such agent or employee has filed with the director
a bond in such form and in such penal sum as the director may
prescribe.



59957.  Upon the recommendation of the marketing program committee,
the director may relieve the proration zone agent of the
responsibility of collecting any amount which is due and unpaid not
exceeding five dollars ($5) if the director determines that the
collection is improbable or the cost of collecting would exceed the
amount which is involved.



59958.  The director, in addition to other remedies which are
provided by law, may direct suit in the name of the people of this
state as plaintiff, to be brought for the recovery of fees as
provided in this chapter. In such case, the director may make the
necessary affidavit for and a writ of attachment may issue. All fees
collected in this manner shall be handled as provided in this
article.