708                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                    [CH. 247

sel," be and it is hereby repealed and that new Section 15B be and
it is hereby enacted in lieu thereof, to stand in the place of the section
repealed, to read as follows:

15B.

The people's counsel may hire from time to time, as needed, in
connection with specific proceedings before the Commission, experts
in the utility regulation field including but not limited to economists,
cost of capital experts, rate design experts, and, to the extent Com-
mission personnel cannot be utilized, accountants, engineers, and
transportation specialists. An aggregate sum of not less than twenty-
five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) for compensation and/or expenses
of these experts shall be provided in the budget, and if not used for
this purpose, shall revert to the Treasury; nothing contained herein
precludes the people's counsel from applying to the Board of Public
Works for additional funds to be allotted from the General Emer-
gency Fund for the purposes expressed herein if the budgetary
appropriation is insufficient to meet the people's counsel's expenses
in representing the people of Maryland.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1969.

Approved April 23, 1969.

CHAPTER 247
(House Bill 34)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 88(d)
of Article 78 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1968 Supple-
ment), title "Public Service Commission Law," subtitle "Procedure
Before Commission," amending the law concerning the annual
filing fee of certain public service companies in order to change
the formula for computing the amount thereof.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 88 (d) of Article 78 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1968 Supplement), title "Public Service Commission Law," subtitle
"Procedure Before Commission," be and it is hereby repealed and
re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

88.

(d) In addition to all other fees and charges specified in this
section or elsewhere in this article, there is hereby imposed upon
every public service company, whose gross receipts amount to
$10,000 or more, an annual filing fee in an amount equal to the
product of [.0008] .0009 multiplied by the company's annual gross
receipts for the preceding year. The fee shall be payable on or
before April 1 in any year, with the computation being based upon
the gross receipts for the preceding calendar year. "Gross receipts"
shall apply only to the revenues from such types of utility business
and operations as are within the regulatory jurisdiction of the Com-