a. There is hereby created a special fund in the Department of Community Affairs which shall be entitled the Department of Community Affairs’ Neighborhood Preservation Loan and Grant Fund and shall be administered by the department as a revolving loan and grant fund for carrying out the purposes of this act. The department may designate separate accounts within the fund to be applicable for regional, municipal and intermunicipal needs as the department may deem necessary. The exercise by the department of all powers and duties conferred by this act shall constitute and be deemed and held to be an essential public and official governmental function of the State, acting by and through the department, in promoting the general health, safety, welfare and prosperity of the State, its municipalities, its neighborhoods and its citizens.

b. The State fund shall consist of:

1. All moneys appropriated and made available by the Legislature for inclusion therein;

2. Any other moneys made available to the Department from any source or sources, which the commissioner shall determine to use for the purposes authorized by this act, including community development funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other act or part thereof, any moneys which the department shall receive in repayment of loans or advances from the State fund; and

4. All moneys earned through investment pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

c. Any moneys held in such fund not required or permitted to be disbursed immediately by this act may be invested and reinvested. All functions, powers and duties relating to the investment or reinvestment of funds within the jurisdiction of the agency, including the purchase, sale or exchange of any investments, or securities may, at the request of the agency, be exercised and performed by the Director of the Division of Investments, in accordance with the written directions of the commissioner.

d. Funds expended from the State fund pursuant to this act shall be used only for the purpose of making housing rehabilitation loans or grants for the costs incurred in the administration thereof.

L.1975, c. 249, s. 4, eff. Oct. 30, 1975.