Section 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.