MARVIN MANDEL, Governor

1987

1973; Chapter 632 of the Acts of 1974; Chapter 564
of the Acts of 1975)

By adding to

Chapter 403 of the Acts of 1969

Section 11—I and J

(To follow immediately after Section 11H thereof,

as added by Chapter 564 of the Acts of 1975)

Preamble

WHEREAS, There has been established a program to
finance the acquisition of land and the development of
that land by the State and its subdivisions for outdoor
public recreational and open space purposes, this program
being known as "Program Open Space"; and

WHEREAS, Chapter 403 of the Acts of 1969 (the
"Act"), as amended by Chapter 353 of the Acts of 1972,
Chapter 632 of the Acts of 1974, and Chapter 564 of the
Acts of 1975, authorized and directed the Board of Public
Works to issue a State loan to be known as the "Outdoor
Recreation Land Loan of 1969" in the aggregate amount of
$88,000,000, the net actual cash proceeds of which are to
be expended to fund Program Open Space; and

WHEREAS, It was the intention of the General
Assembly of Maryland in enacting the Act, as amended by
Chapter 626 of the Acts of 1972, that the bonds
evidencing the Outdoor Recreation Land Loan of 1969 would
be sold over a 10—year period, beginning with the fiscal
year 1969-1970, and that appropriation of the net actual
cash proceeds realized from the sale of these bonds could
be made annually by Laws of the General Assembly of
Maryland designating the State and local projects to
which these proceeds would be allocated; and

WHEREAS, The primary source of debt service for the
Outdoor Recreation Land Loan of 1969 is the State
Property Transfer Tax laid by Section 6 of the Act and
imposed pursuant to the provisions of Section 278A of
Article 81 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as set
forth in Section 10 of the Act, and the secondary source
of the debt service is the ad valorem property tax levied
by Section 7 of the Act, as amended; and

WHEREAS, Question has been raised as to whether,
considering the decisions of the Court of Appeals of
Maryland in Panitz v. Comptroller, 247 Md. 501 (1967),
and Balensen v. Maryland Airport Authority, 253 Md. 490
(1969), the General Assembly of Maryland can make the
annual appropriations intended to be made under the Act
without in the same bill expressly providing for the
collection of an annual tax or taxes sufficient to cover
the debt service on the bonds which will be sold under
the Act to fund these appropriations; and