2023 Delaware Code › Title 3 - Agriculture › Chapter 9. DELAWARE AGRICULTURAL LANDS PRESERVATION ACT › Subchapter IV. Miscellaneous Provisions › § 921. Funding.

§ 921. Funding.
(a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General are authorized to transfer the sum of $48,000 from the Office of Management and Budget Contingency Appropriation Salary, (10-02-04), contained in Senate Bill No. 500 of the 135th General Assembly (Fiscal Year 1991 Appropriation Act) for use by the Foundation to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Any Foundation funds not otherwise appropriated or encumbered as of June 30, 1991, shall be considered a continuing appropriation for Fiscal Year 1992.
(b) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed, on behalf of the Foundation, to apply on or before August 1, 1991, for federal funding available to the State under the Farms for the Future Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. § 4201 et seq.) by submitting any necessary applications and taking such other action to qualify for eligibility.
(c) All moneys collected by the respective county receiver of taxes, treasurer or director of finance as the Foundation's share of roll-back taxes under § 8335(d) of Title 9 shall, when collected and after deduction of the seven and a half percent administration charge, be transferred to the Foundation for use in carrying out the purposes of this chapter. The Foundation shall be entitled to adopt and impose procedures and requirements to assure collection of its share of roll-back taxes and the Foundation shall be entitled to notify county taxing authorities of lands subject to the agricultural lands preservation assessment and upon such notification such county taxing authorities shall include the amount due on the property tax statements submitted with respect to the converted lands. Nonpayment of the Foundation's share of the roll-back tax, including penalties, shall when payable result in the imposition of a lien on the land for nonpayment, which lien shall qualify for all purposes as a lien under § 2901 of Title 25.
(d) There is hereby established a Committee on Funding for Farmland Preservation, which shall consist of 2 members of the Delaware Senate as appointed by the President Pro Tem of the Senate, 2 members of the Delaware House of Representatives as appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 3 members appointed by the Governor. The Committee shall review and consider ways and means of providing reliable, short-term and long-term funding for the permanent preservation of viable agricultural lands. The Committee shall also review and consider ways and means of creating economic incentives for the establishment and expansion of Agricultural Preservation Districts and the acquisition of agricultural lands preservation easements, such as the use of tax credits for activities undertaken in Agricultural Preservation Districts which reduce or eliminate the impact of the release of pollutants to the environment. The Committee shall report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before March 1, 1993.
(e) All moneys directed to the Foundation under this chapter, either directly or indirectly, shall be for the exclusive benefit of the Foundation in carrying out the purposes of this chapter. Such funding shall be considered separate and distinct from any other funding authorization, even though the funding amount may be determined on the basis of tax rates, assessments or by other means used by other entities.
68 Del. Laws, c. 118, §  2;  68 Del. Laws, c. 306, §  1;  68 Del. Laws, c. 371, §§  4, 5;  75 Del. Laws, c. 88, §  21(2);