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<section article="gec" article_name="Economic Development" number="5-319" title_number="5" title_name="Economic Development and Financial Assistance Programs" subtitle_number="3" subtitle_name="Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Financial assistance from the Fund not exceeding $5,000,000 may be approved by the Secretary.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, financial assistance from the Fund exceeding $5,000,000 requires approval by the Authority.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>For a Tier I county project, the Secretary may approve financial assistance exceeding $5,000,000.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>Except as provided in subsection (a)(3) of this section, with respect to requests for financial assistance exceeding $5,000,000:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>the Department shall evaluate the requests; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>the Authority shall:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>evaluate the requests that have first been evaluated by the Department;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>determine whether to approve the requests; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>set the terms and conditions of the financial assistance.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, financial assistance provided to a local government or the Corporation for a project shall be approved by a letter from or formal resolution of:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the governing body of the jurisdiction in which the project is located; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>if the recipient of the financial assistance is the Corporation, its board of directors.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>If the recipient of financial assistance is the Corporation for a Tier I county project, the financial assistance shall be approved by letters from or formal resolutions of both the board of directors of the Corporation and the governing body of the jurisdiction in which the project is located.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>A project that is funded by a grant from the Fund to a local government or the Corporation, and carried out by the local government or the Corporation, shall be consistent with the strategy or plan for economic development of the county or municipal corporation in which the project is located.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>If the Department provides financial assistance to a local government for a project, an interest in that project is later transferred to a third party, and the transfer of the interest is financed by the local government:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the local government may assign the financing documents to the Department as a repayment of or return on the Department’s financial assistance to the local government; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the assignment may not be considered a new financing under this subtitle.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>For a local economic development opportunity, the local government of the jurisdiction in which the project is located shall provide:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>a letter from or formal resolution of the governing body of the jurisdiction in which the project is located that endorses the financial assistance to be provided from the Fund; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>as determined by the Department or Authority to evidence the support of the local government for the project:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>a guarantee, secured by the full faith and credit of the county or municipal corporation in which the project is located, of all or part of the financial assistance to be provided by the Fund;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the financing of part of the costs of the project; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>both.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>A letter submitted under this section shall include the signatures of a majority of the members of the governing body.</text>
  </level>
</section>
