06/09/05 Inspection fee hike, Part one

Tree fruit growers and shippers, among other fruit and vegetable producers in Washington State, prepare for an increase in inspection fees starting July First. The announcement of the Washington State Department of Agriculture's fee hike came days after the State Attorney General's office issued a ruling on a sticking point for opponents of the proposed fee hike&the ability of W.S.D.A. to take monies collected from local fee for service accounts to pay for agency expenses. HAZEN: We did not think they did. We couldn't find anywhere within the statutes within any point in time did the Legislature imply that the Department could take this money out of this local account and spend it on administrative services. But when the Washington State Horticultural Association's Jim Hazen and others within a Specialty Crop Coalition asked the Washington State A.G. to rule on the legality of this fund shift practice, the ruling they received was not favorable. HAZEN: The A.G. opinion I think is rather thin in its reasoning. None the less, the A.G. opinion did side with the Department and did say that the fund shift was appropriate. At this point, the Specialty Crop Coalition does not plan a legal challenge of the A.G.'s ruling, but it may have a way to at least stall implementation of the fee increase until a solution agreeable to all parties is reached. More on that in our next program.