AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE OLMSTED PARK IMPROVEMENT FUND.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
Chapter 21 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 3E, the following sections:-
Section 3F. Subject to appropriation, the department shall administer a program for the rehabilitation and improvement of Olmsted Parks in cities and towns of the commonwealth. For the purposes of this section and section 3G the term “Olmsted Park” shall mean a municipal park designed by the architectural firm headed by Frederick Law Olmsted and designated by the department as an Olmsted Park. A city or town with an Olmsted Park within its boundaries that desires state assistance to rehabilitate or improve the Olmsted Park may apply in writing for a grant from the Olmsted Park Improvement Fund established in section 3G.
Section 3G. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as the Olmsted Park Improvement Fund to be administered by the department and used without prior appropriation for the purposes of providing rehabilitation and improvement grants to cities and towns with an Olmsted Park within its municipal boundaries. The fund shall consist of public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations, interest earned on revenues from gifts, grants and donations and any funds provided from other sources. Revenues deposited in the fund that are unexpended at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year.
(b) The department shall award competitive grants from the Olmsted Park Improvement Fund to qualifying municipalities for rehabilitation and improvement projects in Olmsted Parks that are located within those municipalities.
Approved, July 1, 2016.