Revised
October, 1997
Administration: This Act is administered by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Division of Potato Development, State Office Building, 301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509. Telephone: (402) 471-2341.
Advisory Committee: The Department of Agriculture is advised on matters relevant to the administration of the Act by the Nebraska Potato Development Committee.
Revisions: The provisions of this Act were last revised during the 1997 session of the Nebraska Legislature.
Rules: A regulation has been promulgated under this Act, known as Title 30, Chapter 1, Nebraska Administrative Code - Potato Development Regulations.
2-1801 Act, how cited.
2-1802 Division of Potato Development; established.
2-1803 Nebraska Potato Development Committee;
membership; appointment; term; powers; expenses.
2-1804 Statement of policy; department; powers and
duties.
2-1805 Potato shipper; license required.
2-1806 Potato shipper; license; application; issuance; display;
records; cancellation and annulment of license; grounds; violations; penalty.
2-1807 Potato shipper; annual statement; excise tax; amount;
violations; penalty.
2-1808 Nebraska Potato Development Fund; creation;
disbursement; investment.
2-1809 Department; rules and regulations; duties; criminal
actions.
2-1810 Terms, defined.
2-1811 Violation; penalty.
2-1812 Applicability of sections.
2-1801. Act, how cited. Sections
2-1801 to 2-1811 may be cited as the Nebraska Potato Development Act.
2-1802. Division of Potato Development;
established. There is hereby established a Division of Potato
Development in the Department of Agriculture. The Director of Agriculture shall appoint
the division head and any assistants as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of
the Nebraska Potato Development Act.
2-1803. Nebraska Potato Development Committee;
membership; appointment; term; powers; expenses. With the
exception of the ex officio member, the Governor shall appoint an advisory committee to
be known as the Nebraska Potato Development Committee. The committee shall be
composed of three shippers and four growers from the industry and the vice chancellor
of the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources who shall
be an ex officio member. The Director of Agriculture shall be the chairperson. The
committee shall adopt and provide rules and regulations for the conduct of the affairs of
the Division of Potato Development and advise the director regarding the appointment
of the division head and any assistants as may be appointed. The members of the
committee shall serve without pay but shall receive actual and necessary expenses
incurred while on official business as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177. As the
terms of office of such appointees expire, successors shall be appointed by the
Governor for a period of two years and until their successors are appointed and
qualified.
2-1804. Statement of policy; department; powers and
duties. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of
Nebraska to protect and foster the health, prosperity, and general welfare of its people
by conserving, developing, and promoting the state's potato industry. The Department
of Agriculture shall be the agency of the State of Nebraska for such purpose. In
connection therewith and in furtherance thereof, such department shall have the power,
among other things, to:
(1) Adopt and devise a program of education to promote better practices and
methods in the production, storage, grading, and transportation of potatoes grown within
the state; (2) disseminate information to landowners and to producers and shippers of
potatoes that will enable them to increase the yield and improve the quality of potatoes;
(3) undertake, at such times and in such manner as the department shall determine, an
active advertising campaign to acquaint the general public with the high quality and the
desirability of the use of potatoes grown in the State of Nebraska; (4) encourage and
foster research designed to determine new and better methods of improving the yield
and quality of Nebraska potatoes and of converting potatoes to various commercial and
industrial uses; (5) enter into such contracts as may be necessary in carrying out the
purposes of the Nebraska Potato Development Act and the Nebraska Potato Inspection
Act; (6) pay inspection and grading fees prescribed by the Nebraska Potato Inspection
Act; and (7) conduct, in addition to the things enumerated, any other work for the
improvement of Nebraska potatoes.
2-1805. Potato shipper; license required.
After sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 shall have been in effect thirty days, it shall be
unlawful for any person to act as or conduct the business of a potato shipper without
having obtained and being the holder of a license from the Department of Agriculture as
hereinafter provided.
2-1806. Potato shipper; license; application; issuance;
display; records; cancellation and annulment of license; grounds; violations;
penalty. Every person desiring to engage in business as a potato
shipper shall file with the Department of Agriculture an application for a license in such
form and detail as the department may prescribe. If it is found that there has been
compliance with the provisions of sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 and the rules and
regulations of the department issued in conformance therewith, a license shall forthwith
be issued to the applicant. Every person who engages in business as a potato shipper
without having a license shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor. Each licensed
potato shipper shall display conspicuously in his place of business the license granted
to him. Should the licensed potato shipper change his place of business he shall
immediately notify the department. Each licensed potato shipper shall keep such
records with respect to shipments of potatoes by him as the department may by
regulation require. Such records shall be preserved for a period of not less than two
years and be, at all times during business hours, subject to inspection by authorized
agents of the department. In the event that a licensed potato shipper shall violate any
of the provisions of sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 or the regulations of the department
issued in conformance therewith, the department may, upon due notice and after full
hearing, cancel and annul his license.
2-1807. Potato shipper; annual statement; excise tax;
amount; violations; penalty.
(2) All excise taxes imposed by this section are delinquent on August 1 of the year due.
The department shall impose a penalty of five percent per month of the excise taxes for
each month or portion thereof such taxes are delinquent not to exceed one hundred
percent of such taxes.
(3) The department shall, upon the recommendation of the committee, have the power
to set the excise tax prescribed in subsection (1) of this section. The tax shall be one
cent per one hundred pounds from July 19, 1980, until adjusted by the department.
Adjusted rates shall be effective for periods of not less than one year. The applicable
rate of the excise tax shall be prescribed in rules and regulations adopted by the
department in the manner prescribed by law.
2-1808. Nebraska Potato Development Fund; creation;
disbursement; investment. The State Treasurer is hereby directed
to establish and set up in the treasury of the State of Nebraska a fund to be known as
Nebraska Potato Development Fund, to which fund shall be credited, for the uses and
purposes of the Nebraska Potato Development Act and its enforcement, all taxes,
penalties and fees collected by the Department of Agriculture. After appropriation, the
Director of Administrative Services, upon receipt of proper vouchers approved by the
director of the department, shall issue his warrants on said funds and the State
Treasurer shall pay the same out of the money credited to the fund. Any money in the
fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant
to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.
2-1809. Department; rules and regulations; duties;
criminal actions. The Department of Agriculture shall have
authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to promptly and
effectively enforce the provisions of sections 2-1801 to 2-1811. The department may
call upon the Attorney General of Nebraska for legal assistance. All criminal actions for
the violation of any provisions of sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 shall be prosecuted by the
Attorney General. It shall be the duty of the department to immediately report to the
Attorney General any information coming into its possession concerning any violation of
sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 or the failure or refusal of any person to comply therewith.
2-1810. Terms, defined. As used in
the Nebraska Potato Development Act:
(2) Potato shipper shall mean and include any person engaged in the
business of shipping potatoes who, in any calendar year, sells one hundred eighty
thousand pounds of potatoes grown in Nebraska, including potato growers who sell one
hundred eighty thousand pounds of potatoes not through licensed shippers and any
person who utilizes for any purpose in any calendar year one hundred eighty thousand
pounds of potatoes grown in Nebraska not purchased from licensed shippers;
(3) Potato grower shall mean the actual grower within the State of Nebraska
of at least three acres of potatoes during the crop year; and
(4) Department shall mean the Department of Agriculture.
2-1811. Violation; penalty. Any
person violating any of the provisions of sections 2-1801 to 2-1811 shall be guilty of a
Class II misdemeanor.
2-1812. Applicability of sections.
Section 2-1807 and subdivision (2) of section 2-1810 shall not apply to the shipping or
utilizing of seed potatoes grown in Nebraska and planted in the state by the grower or
shipper.
(1) Beginning July 1, 1997, every potato shipper shall render and have on file with the
Department of Agriculture by the last day of July an annual statement under oath, on
forms prescribed by the department, which shall set forth the number of pounds of
potatoes grown in Nebraska which were sold or shipped by him or her during the
preceding fiscal year beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30. For every potato
shipper who was required to file an annual statement for calendar year 1996, a short
period statement covering January 1, 1997, through June 30, 1997, shall be filed and
the excise taxes paid by July 31, 1997, as required by this section. For every potato
shipper who was required to file a quarterly statement for the period of January 1, 1997,
through March 31, 1997, a final quarterly statement covering April 1, 1997, through
June 30, 1997, shall be filed and the excise taxes paid by July 31, 1997, as required by
this section. At the time the sworn statement is filed and in connection therewith, each
such potato shipper shall pay and remit to the department an excise tax of not to
exceed two cents per one hundred pounds upon the potatoes shown in such statement
to have been sold, which tax is hereby levied and imposed. The tax shall be set in the
manner prescribed in subsection (3) of this section. The department shall transmit to
the State Treasurer all money, checks, drafts, or other mediums of exchange thus
received. The department shall have authority to adjust all errors in making payment.
Any such potato shipper who shall neglect or refuse to file such statement, or to pay the
tax herein imposed, within the time prescribed, shall be guilty of a Class IV
misdemeanor. No potatoes shall be subject to tax more than once under the Nebraska
Potato Development Act.
(1) Person shall mean and include any natural person, firm, partnership,
limited liability company, association, or corporation;