Sec. B-1. 5 MRSA §6208-A is enacted to read:

§6208-A.__Unorganized territory; county approval

1.__Approval.__Approval by the county commissioners is required if land proposed to be acquired under a bond issue within the unorganized territory in a county constitutes more than 1% of the state valuation within the county.

2.__Transactions.__Any acquisition of land within an unorganized territory by eminent domain funded by the board, when the land exceeds either 50 acres or $100,000 in assessed value, must be approved by the county in which the land is located.__ That approval may be obtained either from the county commissioners or, if they do not approve, by referendum of the legal voters within the county.

FISCAL NOTE

The estimated cost of sending this bond issue out to referendum will vary according to the total number of referenda enacted during the 119th First Regular Session to be submitted to the voters in November 1999. The estimated cost to the Secretary of State if one to 6 referenda are enacted is $95,000. Each additional referendum costs an additional $7,000.

If approved by the voters, the total cost of this bond issue is estimated to be $76,250,000, with principal payments of $50,000,000 and interest payments of approximately $26,250,000

This bill requires that certain Land for Maine's Future Board acquisitions in the unorganized territories be approved by the affected county The additional costs of this state mandate are expected to be minor. Pursuant to the Mandate Preamble, the two- thirds vote of all members elected to each House exempts the State from the constitutional requirement to fund 90% of the additional local costs.

SUMMARY

This bill is the majority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs. The funds provided by this bond issue, in the amount of $50,000,000, will be used by the Land for Maine's Future Board to acquire lands and interests in lands for conservation, water access, outdoor