(a) The secretary shall establish the minimum license fee at an amount not to exceed one hundred eighty dollars ($180).

(b) The secretary may fix the minimum license fee at an amount that is less than one hundred eighty dollars ($180) and may adjust the license fee if, after investigation and due notice, the secretary finds that the cost of administering this division and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 53301) of Division 18, which relate to nursery stock, can be defrayed from revenues derived from the license fee in combination with those sums as provided by Sections 435 and 5822.

(c) Both of the following amounts shall be added as an additional license fee to the license fee established pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b):

(1) An equal sum for each branch salesyard, store, or sales location that is owned and operated by the applicant in the state.

(2) (A) An acreage fee in an amount to be established by the secretary for land used in the production, storage, or sale of all nursery stock, except as provided in subparagraph (B), in excess of one acre, which the secretary determines is necessary to carry out this part and any portion of this code that relates to nursery stock. The total acreage fee shall not be less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than nine hundred dollars ($900) for each licensee. The acreage fee shall be calculated using as a basis the total of the acreage at all locations where nursery stock is produced, stored, or sold.

(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to those licensees whose gross income from the production of cut flowers and cut ornamentals is 75 percent or greater of the gross income of their nursery.

(d) As to all the fees, the secretary may require payment of prorated amounts when necessary in the issuance of new licenses for branch salesyards, stores, or sales locations to persons already licensed pursuant to the licensing periods established in Section 6724.

(Amended (as amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 450, Sec. 1) by Stats. 2004, Ch. 170, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2005.)