§8A-12-18. Disbursements by the authority to county farmland protection boards.

(a) Applications; amount. -- If a county has established a county farmland protection program, the authority shall distribute within sixty days after the end of its fiscal year at least eighty percent of that fiscal year's remaining funds to county farmland protection boards who have certified to the authority that there is then pending an application for one or more conservation or preservation easements. Each certification shall include:

(1) The name of each applicant for an easement and the date of each application for an easement during the fiscal year;

(2) A description of the property upon which an easement is offered; and

(3) An appraisal of the value of the conservation or preservation easement as provided in section fourteen of this article.

(b) Disbursement formula. -- Disbursement of authority funds to qualifying counties shall be based on the ratio of each county farmland protection board's appraisal value of conservation and preservation easement applications, including those applications to donate easements, received during the fiscal year to the total of the appraisal value of all applications for conservation and preservation easements for the fiscal year received by the authority from county farmland protection boards. Applications for easement donations may only be counted if the county farmland protection board holds or coholds the easement.