(1) Any person who has paid an assessment at the time of brand inspection as required by section 35-57.8-109 shall, upon request, be entitled to a refund of such assessment from the board within a reasonable time; except that a person who has purchased a Colorado horse development authority assessment card shall not be entitled to a refund pursuant to this section.
Notwithstanding any other laws to the contrary, and to carry out the intent of thissection to ensure a refund, the board, except as provided by subsection (3) of this section, is authorized to process claims for refund and may make such refunds without the necessity of verification of payment by the applicant. The refund shall be based only on the signed statement of the refund claim and other information as is contained thereon unless other information or verification is required by subsection (3) of this section.
The board, before processing and making a refund, may require any additional information or verification it deems necessary to determine the validity of the claim for refund. The board may file an action to recover from any person a refund of assessments illegally obtained.
A claim for refund shall be signed by the person who paid the contribution. Anyperson who files a fraudulent or false claim for refund, who, by any false pretenses, obtains or attempts to obtain a refund not legally due such person, or who signs a claim for refund in the name of and for another person commits theft, as defined in section 18-4-401, C.R.S., and shall be punished accordingly.
Source: L. 98: Entire section added, p. 1260, § 7, effective June 1.