(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: (1) Be received by the board at a time the board determines for the fiscal year in which the application is to be considered; (2) Include an asking price at which the owner is willing to sell an easement; and (3) Include a complete description of the land for the proposed easement. (c) The board shall determine the maximum number of applications that it will accept from each county in each offer cycle. (d) (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) 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) (1) 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. (2) 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) May approve only those applications in which the subject land meets the criteria and standards established under §§ 2-509 and 2-513 of this subtitle; (ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, review the applications and submit offers to buy at the beginning of each offer cycle based on the approved priorities established by each eligible county for the preservation of agricultural land; and (iii) For applications competing on a statewide basis following the initial round of offers, shall rank the applications and submit offers to buy in order of priority, as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection. (2) The Foundation shall adopt by regulation a standard priority ranking system for additional offers to buy by which it shall rank each application. The system shall be based on the following criteria as to the easements offered in any one county: (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. (ii) All additional applications which include proportions greater than 1.0 shall be assigned a numerical value that, in regard to the land for which the easement is offered, reflects: 1. The relative productive capacity of the land; 2. The extent to which the easement acquisition will contribute to the continued availability of agricultural suppliers and markets for agricultural goods; and 3. The priority recommendations of the local governing bodies. (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) (1) On approval of a majority of the board members at-large, and on the recommendation of 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. (2) 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. (2) A landowner has 30 days from the date of any offer to buy in which to accept or reject the offer. (k) (1) (i) At the time of settlement of the purchase of an easement, the landowner and the Foundation may agree on 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. (ii) 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. (2) (i) If a schedule of installments is agreed on, the Comptroller shall retain in the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund an amount of money sufficient to pay the landowner according to the schedule. (ii) 1. The landowner shall receive interest on any unpaid balance remaining after the date of settlement. 2. 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 on schedule of installments as provided in this section. 3. Any interest earned on the invested unpaid balance shall be paid with the installment when due, less 1/4 of 1 percent. (3) (i) The Foundation may pay the landowner according to a schedule, up to a maximum term of 15 years, established in an installment purchase agreement. (ii) The installment purchase agreement shall: 1. Require that the Foundation make annual equal payments to the landowner of interest on the outstanding balance of the purchase price; 2. Require that the Foundation pay the landowner the remainder of the purchase price at the end of the term; 3. State the total amount of money the Foundation will pay the landowner, the interest rate, and the terms of the agreement; and 4. Require that the easement be recorded within 30 days of settlement. (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. (2) A landowner who rejects an offer from the Foundation to purchase an easement on the same land during two consecutive years, for a reason other than insufficient Foundation funds, may not reapply to sell an easement on the same land for the following two consecutive years. (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.
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