Unlicensed activities; fees; disposition.

In order to protect the public and to ensure a consumer-oriented department, it is the intent of the Legislature that vigorous enforcement of regulation for professional surveying and mapping activities is a state priority. All enforcement costs under this chapter should be covered by the profession. Therefore, the department shall impose, upon initial licensure and each renewal thereof, a special fee of $5 per licensee. Such fee shall be in addition to all other fees collected from each licensee and shall fund efforts to combat unlicensed activity. The board with concurrence of the department may earmark $5 of the current licensure fee for this purpose, if the board is not in a deficit and has a reasonable cash balance. The board with the concurrence of the department may authorize the transfer of funds from the operating fund account to the unlicensed activity account if the operating fund account is not in a deficit and has a reasonable cash balance. The department shall include all financial and statistical data resulting from unlicensed activity enforcement as a separate category in the quarterly management report provided for in s. 472.011. For the unlicensed activity account, a balance which remains at the end of a renewal cycle may, with concurrence of the board and the department, be transferred to the operating fund account of the profession.