§2605 Oregon and California land-grant fund; annual distribution of moneys

Summary

All money in the Oregon and California land-grant fund must be split each year starting March 1, 1938. Half (50 percent) goes to the counties that contain the revested lands. Those county payments start on or after June 30, 1938 and continue yearly. Each county gets its share based on the assessed value of the grant lands in that county in 1915. Any grant land not assessed in 1915 is treated as if it had the county’s average assessed value that year. One quarter (25 percent) is first used to pay unpaid "in lieu of tax" claims that accrued before March 1, 1938 under the Act of July 13, 1926 (44 Stat. 915). The Secretary of the Treasury pays those sums to counties after the Secretary of the Interior certifies them, until the old claims are gone. After that, this 25 percent is credited to the Treasury general fund until amounts the general fund is owed by the land-grant fund are repaid. If, after the old claims are paid, the yearly county payments under the 50 percent rule are less than 78 percent of the total tax claims that accrued for 1934, up to three-fifths of this 25 percent may be used that year to make up the difference. When the Treasury is fully repaid, that 25 percent is paid yearly on or after September 30 to counties the same way as the 50 percent. The last 25 percent is set aside for administering this law in amounts Congress decides. Any of that money not used for administration goes into the Treasury general fund and, while any repayment owed to the general fund remains, must be applied to those repayments.