§ 299-x. State aid. 1. Recognizing that general public benefits, in
terms of flood prevention, and erosion control, will accrue to the
people of the state, through the establishment of small watershed
protection projects because such benefits will go beyond the limits of
watershed districts and their parent counties; and recognizing that the
health, welfare, and prosperity of our people is enhanced by the proper
management, wise use, and development of our soil and water resources;
it is hereby declared to be a proper state purpose for the state to
provide financial reimbursement to the counties for a part of certain
local costs which must be met in the establishment of watershed
projects.

2. Such reimbursement shall not exceed one-half of the local
expenditure for the land, easements, and rights-of-way which are
necessary and required for the construction of flood prevention works,
not including land treatment measures, for which federal aid for
construction costs is granted pursuant to the said "Watershed Protection
and Flood Prevention Act". In the case of a joint project pursuant to
section two hundred ninety-nine-t, each county of this state
participating therein shall be entitled to claim for and receive state
aid in accordance with its pro rata share of the liabilities or
expenditures incurred or undertaken by said county on account thereof.
Application for such state reimbursement shall be made each year by the
county board of supervisors to the commissioner of conservation on or
before such date, and in such form and manner, as may be prescribed by
him. After his determination that such requests and the amounts thereof
are proper and in compliance with this article, he shall submit a
separate request for each project, as a part of his annual budget
requests and estimates for the department of conservation. The budget
item for each project shall contain the name of the project, the county
or counties in which located, and the amount of state reimbursement
requested therefor.

3. After funds have been appropriated therefor and are available, the
commissioner shall certify to the comptroller for payment the amount of
state reimbursement due each county. The amount so certified by the
commissioner, after audit by and on the warrant of the comptroller,
shall be paid to the county treasurers of the respective counties to
which state reimbursement is due.

4. The provisions of this section shall apply to projects, for which
reimbursement made subsequent to April first, nineteen hundred
sixty-three, was limited to twenty thousand dollars, to the extent of
the difference between twenty thousand dollars and one-half of such
local expenditure.