(1) Except as provided in subsection (4) or (5) of this section, a filing fee shall be paid by or on behalf of each candidate prior to filing for office. For candidates who file in the office of the Secretary of State as provided in subdivision (2)(a) of section 32-607, the filing fee shall be paid to the Secretary of State who shall remit the fee to the State Treasurer for credit to the Election Administration Fund. For candidates for any city or village office, the filing fee shall be paid to the city or village treasurer of the city or village in which the candidate resides. For candidates who file in the office of the election commissioner or county clerk, the filing fee shall be paid to the election commissioner or county clerk in the county in which the office is sought. The election commissioner or county clerk shall remit the fee to the county treasurer. The fee shall be placed in the general fund of the county, city, or village. No candidate filing forms shall be filed until the proper payment or the proper receipt showing the payment of such filing fee is presented to the filing officer. On the day of the filing deadline, the city or village treasurer's office shall remain open to receive filing fees until the hour of the filing deadline.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (4) or (5) of this section, the filing fees shall be as follows:

(a) For the office of United States Senator, state officers, including members of the Legislature, Representatives in Congress, county officers, and city or village officers, except the mayor or council members of cities having a home rule charter, a sum equal to one percent of the annual salary as of November 30 of the year preceding the election for the office for which he or she files as a candidate;

(b) For directors of public power and irrigation districts in districts receiving annual gross revenue of forty million dollars or more, twenty-five dollars, and in districts receiving annual gross revenue of less than forty million dollars, ten dollars;

(c) For directors of reclamation districts, ten dollars; and

(d) For Regents of the University of Nebraska, members of the State Board of Education, and directors of metropolitan utilities districts, twenty-five dollars.

(3) All declared write-in candidates shall pay the filing fees that are required for the office at the time that they present the write-in affidavit to the filing officer.

(4) No filing fee shall be required for any candidate filing for an office in which a per diem is paid rather than a salary or for which there is a salary of less than five hundred dollars per year. No filing fee shall be required for any candidate for membership on a school board, on the board of an educational service unit, on the board of governors of a community college area, on the board of directors of a natural resources district, or on the board of trustees of a sanitary and improvement district.

(5) No filing fee shall be required of any candidate completing an affidavit requesting to file for elective office in forma pauperis. A pauper shall mean a person whose income and other resources for maintenance are found under assistance standards to be insufficient for meeting the cost of his or her requirements and whose reserve of cash or other available resources does not exceed the maximum available resources that an eligible individual may own. Available resources shall include every type of property or interest in property that an individual owns and may convert into cash except:

(a) Real property used as a home;

(b) Household goods of a moderate value used in the home; and

(c) Assets to a maximum value of three thousand dollars used by a recipient in a planned effort directed towards self-support.

(6) If any candidate dies prior to an election, the spouse of the candidate may file a claim for refund of the filing fee with the proper governing body prior to the date of the election. Upon approval of the claim by the proper governing body, the filing fee shall be refunded.