A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish a funding source for farmland preservation.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑719(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Fund Earnings, Assets, and Balances. – The State Treasurer shall hold the Fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds, and accounts. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of the Fund and shall invest the assets in accordance with G.S. 147‑69.2 and G.S. 147‑69.3. Investment earnings credited to the Fund shall become part of the Fund. Thirty-three percent (33%) of the balance of the Fund at the end of each fiscal year shall be credited to the North Carolina Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to be used for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements under Article 61 of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes. The remaining balance in the Fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward in the Fund for the next succeeding fiscal year. Payments from the Fund shall be made on the warrant of the chair of the Commission, pursuant to the directives of the Commission."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2002.