§ 2-510. Sale of easement
West's Annotated Code of MarylandAgricultureEffective: June 30, 2012
Effective: June 30, 2012
MD Code, Agriculture, § 2-510
§ 2-510. Sale of easement
(a) An owner of agricultural land whose application to sell an easement has been approved by the county under this subtitle may sell an easement to the Foundation on the contiguous acreage of the agricultural land, subject to the requirements of this subtitle and regulations of the Foundation.
(b) In order to be considered by the Foundation, an application to sell shall:
(c) The board shall determine the maximum number of applications that it will accept from each county in each offer cycle.
(d) Within 30 days after the receipt of an application from the county governing body, the Foundation shall notify the landowner and the county governing body of the receipt and sufficiency of the application. If the original application is insufficient, the Foundation shall specify the reason for insufficiency, and the Foundation shall grant an additional 30 days for the landowner to remedy the insufficiency. If the application is made sufficient within 30 days of the notification by the Foundation, the application shall be considered as if it had originally been submitted in a timely and sufficient manner.
(e) If the application is submitted to the Foundation prior to county approval, then within 60 days of the notification of sufficiency of the application, the county governing body shall advise the Foundation as to the county's approval or disapproval of the application. The Foundation shall grant a 30-day extension of this approval period if the county governing body applies to the Foundation for an extension and states its reasons for seeking an extension.
(f)(1) In determining which applications it shall approve for the purchase of the easements offered for sale in each fiscal year under this section, the Foundation:
(i) The applications shall be assigned a rank in ascending order with respect to the proportion obtained by dividing the asking price by the State easement value. The resulting rank shall be the sole criterion for establishing the priority for discounted applications that include proportions of 1.0 or lower.
(g) The Foundation may approve general allotted purchases of easements in a county not to exceed in aggregate value the amount allotted for that county under § 2-508(b) of this subtitle for the fiscal year in which such purchases are made, plus any amount of transferred local open space funds designated by the local governing body for general purchases.
(h) The Foundation may approve matching allotted purchases of easements in an eligible county such that the Foundation's share will not exceed in aggregate value the amount allotted for that county under § 2-508(b) of this subtitle for that fiscal year.
(i) Upon approval of a majority of the board members at-large, and upon the recommendation of the State Treasurer and the Secretary, an application to sell shall be approved, and an offer to buy containing the specific terms of the purchase shall be tendered to the landowner. An offer to buy may specify terms, contingencies, and conditions not contained in the original application.
(j)(1) With respect to additional offers to buy tendered under § 2-508(c) of this subtitle, the Foundation may not tender such offers earlier than 30 days after the completion of allotted offers to buy in each offer cycle.
(k)(1) At the time of settlement of the purchase of an easement, the landowner and the Foundation may agree upon and establish a schedule of payment such that the landowner may receive consideration for the easement in a lump sum, in installments over a period of up to 10 years from the date of settlement, or as provided in an installment purchase agreement under paragraph (3) of this subsection. At the time of settlement, the Foundation shall notify in writing each landowner who sells an agricultural easement to the Foundation of the schedule of anticipated ranges of interest rates to be paid on any unpaid balance after the date of settlement.
(ii) The landowner shall receive interest on any unpaid balance remaining after the date of settlement. The State Treasurer shall invest the unpaid balance remaining after the date of settlement in a certificate or certificates of deposit at the maximum interest rate offered by a bank servicing the State or at such other institutions which pay the maximum interest rates payable on time and savings deposits at federally insured commercial banks selected by the Treasurer, to mature in accordance with an agreed upon schedule of installments as provided in this section. Any interest earned on the invested unpaid balance shall be paid with the installment when due, less ¼ of 1 percent.
(l)(1) After the Foundation has expended allotted funds for a fiscal year in offers to purchase, the Foundation shall notify all landowners whose applications had been rejected during that fiscal year. The Foundation shall specify the reasons for that rejection.
(m) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for each offer cycle as provided in this section, records relating to a landowner's ranking, asking price, or Foundation offer shall be confidential and not subject to public inspection until after the end of the cycle, as determined by the Foundation.
Credits
Added by Acts 1977, c. 883. Amended by Acts 1978, c. 80; Acts 1979 c. 65; Acts 1981, c. 12; Acts 1981, c. 306; Acts 1981, c. 347; Acts 1981, c. 348; Acts 1983, c. 339; Acts 1984, c. 121; Acts 1985, c. 34; Acts 1989, c. 238; Acts 1990, c. 64; Acts 1990, c. 65; Acts 1991, c. 253; Acts 1992, c. 22, §§ 1, 11; Acts 1992, c. 181; Acts 1994, c. 3, § 1, eff. Feb. 28, 1994; Acts 1995, c. 568, § 1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1999, c. 421, § 1, eff. June 1, 1999; Acts 1999, c. 653, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1999; Acts 2000, c. 583, § 1, eff. July 1, 2000; Acts 2002, c. 258, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2002; Acts 2003, c. 255, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2003; Acts 2004, c. 189, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2004; Acts 2005, c. 25, § 1, eff. April 12, 2005; Acts 2006, c. 192, § 1, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2007, c. 650, § 1, eff. July 1, 2007; Acts 2009, c. 17, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2012, c. 180, § 1, eff. June 30, 2012.
MD Code, Agriculture, § 2-510, MD AGRIC § 2-510
Current with all legislation from the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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