(a) The director shall prepare and adopt criteria and procedures for evaluating applications for grants allocated pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, of Section 5096.620. Individual applications for funds shall be submitted to the department for approval as to their conformity with the requirements of this chapter. The application shall be accompanied by certification that the project for which the grant is requested is consistent with the park and recreation element of the applicable city or county general plan or the district park and recreation plan, as the case may be, and will satisfy a high priority need.
(b) To utilize available grant funds as effectively as possible, overlapping or adjoining jurisdictions and applicants with similar objectives are encouraged to combine projects and submit a joint application. An applicant may allocate all or a portion of its per capita share for a regional or state project.
(c) The director shall annually forward a statement of the total amount to be appropriated in each fiscal year for projects approved for grants pursuant to this article to the Director of Finance for inclusion in the Budget Bill. A list of eligible jurisdictions and the amount of grant funds to be allocated to each shall also be made available by the department.
(d) Funds appropriated pursuant to this article shall be encumbered by the recipient within three years from the date the appropriation is effective. Regardless of the date of encumbrance of the granted funds, the recipient is expected to complete all funded projects within eight years of the effective date of the appropriation.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 875, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 40 at the March 5, 2002, election.)