State Operating Budget makes changes to ag licenses, permits, and fees

By:Ellen Essman, Senior Research Associate

After months of deliberation, the General Assembly delivered H.B. 96, the two-year state operating budget, to Governor Mike DeWine.  Governor DeWine signed the bill into law on June 30, vetoing several provisions. DeWine issued a number of line-item vetoes, and the General Assembly plans to hold a session on July 21 to override the vetoes related to property tax provisions in the bill. There is also a chance that the General Assembly may override additional vetoes unrelated to property tax in the fall. While we will certainly keep an eye on these possible veto overrides, the provisions of the budget bill affecting agriculture remain mostly intact. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing a series of blog posts about the newly passed state operating budget and its implications for agriculture in Ohio. Today’s focus will be on several licensing, permit, and fee changes affecting the ag and food sectors.

Various fee increases and changes

H.B. 96 increases inspection, licensing, and registration fees in many ag and food related industries. For instance, the budget bill:

• Increases the cost of a license to manufacture and distribute fertilizer in the state of Ohio from $5 to $50.  If the manufacturer/distributor fails to renew their license, the late fees increase from $10 to $25.
• Increases the annual base inspection fee for plant nurseries that produce, sell, or distribute woody nursery stock from $100 to $200. On top of the inspection fee, there is a charge of $15 per acre for nursery stock grown in intensive production areas, and a charge of $10 per acre for nursery stock grown in non-intensive production areas.
• Changes the annual registration fees for bakeries. The fee used to begin at $30 and go up depending on how much product the bakery produced. H.B. 96 changes the annual bakery registration fee to a flat $200.
• Increases the license fee for frozen food manufacturing facilities, chill rooms, sharp freezing rooms and facilities, or sharp freezing cabinets from $50 to $200.

Seed labeler permits

In Ohio, no person is allowed to label agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed that is intended for sale in the state without a seed labeler permit. The budget bill makes the following changes to commercial seed labeler permits:

• •  Increases the cost of permits from $10 to $50.
  • Moves the expiration date for seed labeler permits from December 31^st to January 31^st of each year.
  •  Requires labelers to submit a sales report to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) annually instead of semiannually.
  • A seed fee based on the amount of seed sold is typically due at the same time as the annual sales report. H.B. 96 changes how this seed fee is collected for alfalfa, clover, grass, native grass, mixtures containing any of these, and all agricultural, vegetable and flower seeds not specifically mentioned in the law. The new language states that if the total amount of fees due is less than $50, then seed labelers no longer need to pay a minimum fee.

Livestock dealer licensing

Ohio law defines livestock “dealers” or “brokers,” with some exceptions, as “any person found by the department of agriculture buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, exchanging, negotiating, or soliciting the sale, resale, exchange, or transfer of any animals in an amount of more than two hundred fifty head of cattle, horses, or other equidae, or five hundred head of sheep, goats, or other bovidae, swine and other suidae, poultry, alpacas, llamas, or monitored captive deer, captive deer with status, or captive deer with certified chronic wasting disease status during any one year.” H.B. 96 modifies the law regarding licensing for these livestock dealers and brokers in the following ways:

• • Licensing fees for dealers and brokers used to be based on the number of head of livestock they sold per year. The new language creates a flat fee of $250 per annum.
  • Increases licensing fees for small dealers from $25 to $50, and late fees for small dealers from $25 to $100.
  • Increases licensing fees for each licensed weigher and each employee appointed by a livestock dealer from $20 to $30.

Registration and inspections for manufacturers and distributors of commercial feeds

Finally, the budget bill modifies registration and inspection requirements for manufacturers and distributors of commercial feeds. Commercial feed includes “all materials…that are distributed for use as feed or for mixing in feed for animals.” Under the new language in H.B. 96, the following changes have been made:

• • Manufacturers and distributors of commercial feed must register annually with ODA. Registration is due on February 1^st of each year and expires January 31^st each year.
  • Manufacturers and distributors must pay an annual registration fee of $50.
  • Inspection fees for commercial feed distributors will be collected annually instead of semiannually.
  •  ODA will not collect inspection fees on the first two hundred tons of commercial feed sold by a distributor of commercial feed in a calendar year.

If you’re up for some light reading, H.B. 96 is available in its entirety here. Stay tuned for our continuing series on the state operating budget!