(A) The director of agriculture and director of health shall prescribe forms for use in calculating the licensing fees that may be charged under sections 3717.25 and 3717.45 of the Revised Code. Each licensor that charges licensing fees shall use the forms in calculating its costs according to the uniform methodologies established in rules adopted under section 3717.07 of the Revised Code.

(B)

(1) If the licensor is a board of health, the board shall submit the form to the director of agriculture in the case of fees being charged for retail food establishment licenses, and to the director of health in the case of fees being charged for food service operation licenses. The board shall submit the form to the appropriate director not later than the first day of the fiscal year in which the fees will apply. A form that is mailed to the director shall be considered to have been submitted on its postmark date.

(2) On receipt of a form from a board of health, the director of agriculture or director of health shall review the form to determine if the board has calculated its fees in accordance with the uniform methodologies. The director may request that the auditor of state conduct an audit of the board to determine if the fees it established are appropriate. The audit is in addition to the annual or biennial audit conducted pursuant to division (A) of section 117.11 of the Revised Code, and the cost of the audit is the responsibility of the board of health. If at any time the director of agriculture or director of health has reasonable cause to believe that a different audit of a board of health is in the public interest, the director may request that the auditor of state conduct the audit. If the audit is conducted, the cost of the audit is the responsibility of the board of health.

(C)

(1) If a board of health fails to submit the forms as required under division (B)(1) of this section and the failure has occurred not more than twice in the immediately preceding five-year period, the board is subject to the following penalties:

(a) If the form is late by one but not more than five working days, a fine of fifty dollars for each working day the form is late;

(b) If the form is late by six working days but not more than ten working days, a fine of one hundred dollars for each working day the form is late;

(c) If the form is late by more than ten working days, the board shall reduce by twenty per cent the fees it charges under section 3717.25 or 3717.45 of the Revised Code during the next succeeding fiscal year.

(2) If a board fails to submit the forms and the failure has occurred more than twice in the immediately preceding five-year period, the board shall reduce by twenty per cent the fees it charges under section 3717.25 or 3717.45 of the Revised Code during the next succeeding fiscal year.

(3) A board of health that is required to pay a fine or reduce its licensing fees shall not include any part of the cost of the penalty in the fees it charges under section 3717.25 or 3717.45 of the Revised Code or the fees it charges in operating any other licensing program.

Effective Date: 11-21-2001.