Marvin Mandel, Governor                            577

758 A.

(a)    There is hereby created a fund to be called the "Shore
Erosion Control Construction Loan Fund," to be administered by
the Department of Natural Resources solely to provide interest free
loans to persons, municipalities, or counties for construction of shore
erosion structures. The Fund will be established by an appropria-
tion from General Funds not to exceed five hundred thousand dol-
lars ($500,000). Thereafter, the Fund shall be maintained by: (1)
Repayments of principal on loans made from the Fund, such repay-
ments to be made through a special real estate tax levied by the
State on privately owned property benefited by such shore erosion
control projects, said tax in each instance to compensate the State
for the net project construction cost. The tax may be levied at a
uniform rate over a period not exceeding twenty-five years, as agreed
between the State and the property owner. (2) Annual appropria-
tion of general funds to restore the Fund to a level sufficient to
carry out an effective shore erosion control construction loan pro-
gram during the succeeding year. PROPERTY OWNERS WHOSE
PROJECTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED SHALL BE ELIGIBLE TO
RECEIVE INTEREST-FREE LOANS COVERING ONE HUN-
DRED PER CENT OF THE FIRST $20,000 OF NET PROJECT
CONSTRUCTION COST, FIFTY PER CENT OF THE NEXT
$10,000 OF NET PROJECT CONSTRUCTION COST, TWENTY-
FIVE PER CENT OF THE NEXT $10,000 OF NET PROJECT
CONSTRUCTION COST, AND TEN PER CENT OF THAT PART
OF NET CONSTRUCTION COST EXCEEDING $40,000.

(b)    During the first month of each fiscal year, the Department
of Natural Resources shall submit to the Department of Budget and
Fiscal Planning an estimate of: (1) the amount of revenue to the
Fund expected from the repayment of outstanding loans, and (2)
the amount of general funds required to reestablish an adequate
balance in the Fund from which to make loans during the next
fiscal year.

(c)    When a shore erosion control project has been approved by
the Department of Natural Resources and an appropriate agree-
ment signed by the owner or owners of the benefited property or
properties, stipulating the manner in which the State will be reim-
bursed for net project construction costs, the Department shall,
within budgetary limitations, proceed to effect the construction of
the project. Upon satisfactory completion of construction, the prop-
erty owner's cash contribution if any shall be endorsed to the credit
of the contractor and the balance of the payment due the contractor
shall be paid from the Shore Erosion Control Construction Loan
Fund. Within thirty days thereafter, the Department of Natural
Resources shall certify to the Board of Public Works the payment
of such sum, and shall transmit to that agency a copy of the agree-
ment referred to in subsection 758A(a), specifying the manner in
which the State is to be reimbursed for the net project construction
cost. The Board of Public Works shall then act to levy, beginning
in the next fiscal year, a special tax on the benefited property or
properties in conformity with such agreement. Benefited property
or properties is that land immediately abutting waters of the State
which are protected by an erosion control project constructed under
the provisions of this Act; however, benefited property or properties
may also include land in the vicinity of the waters of the State