Apple Assessment Fee and Revolving Fund 7. Requires the Council to adopt a budget and set the fee. The Council must provide notice of the meeting to adopt the fee and the amount of the proposed fee 60 days in advance and must take public testimony on the fee. Establishes the apple research and protection abatement revolving fund to be used by the Council for the abatement of improperly maintained, neglected or abandoned apple orchards or to reimburse the Department for such abatement activities. Requires abatement penalties to be deposited in this fund and allows the Council to deposit apple fees in the fund.
Interest earned on the fund stays in the fund.
Allows the Council to refund fees to producers who abate their orchards in accordance with abatement rules established by the Department. Allows the Council to withhold a refund as a penalty for failure to comply with abatement rules. The Council is to work with the Department to annually agree on the criteria for determining the amount of the penalty. Withheld refunds are an appealable penalty. Establishes a ten percent penalty for failure to pay the apple fee and provides that a producer who knowingly fails to pay any required monies due to the Council is subject to a class 2 misdemeanor.