(a) The Tennessee heritage conservation trust fund is hereby established as a special agency account in the state general fund. The purpose of this trust fund is to assist the state in permanently conserving and preserving tracts of land within this state for the purposes of promoting tourism and recreation, including outdoor activities, such as hunting, fishing, equestrian activities and hiking; protecting, conserving and restoring the state’s physical, cultural, archeological, historical and environmental resources; and preserving working landscapes.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 11-7-103

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Nonprofit organization: means an entity that is exempt from federal income taxation under §. See Tennessee Code 11-7-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trust fund: means the Tennessee heritage conservation trust fund. See Tennessee Code 11-7-102
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Moneys in the trust fund shall be invested by the state treasurer, in accordance with applicable general law, except as qualified by this chapter. The state treasurer shall hold the trust fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds, and accounts.
(c) Any balance remaining unexpended at the end of a fiscal year in the trust fund shall be carried forward into the subsequent fiscal year.
(d) Investment earnings credited to the assets of the trust fund, including, but not limited to, interest, shall be carried forward into the subsequent fiscal year.
(e) The trust fund is authorized to request and receive gifts, contributions, bequests, donations, and grants from any legal and appropriate source to effectuate its purpose. Any such funds received shall be deposited into the trust fund; provided, that, if any such items are not in the form of funds, any income, rents, or proceeds generated from the items shall be deposited into the trust fund.
(f) The trust fund is authorized to create or establish a nonprofit organization, which shall also be eligible to request and receive gifts, contributions, bequests, donations and grants from any legal and appropriate source to effectuate the trust fund’s purpose.
(g) Moneys in the trust fund, and in any nonprofit entity created pursuant to subsection (f), shall be expended only in accordance with, and for the purposes stated in, this chapter. No part of the fund shall be diverted to the general fund or any other public fund for any purpose whatsoever.
(h) This subsection (h) is contingent upon a four-million-dollar ($4,000,000) appropriation being made to the trust fund in the 2009 general appropriations act. This section and any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, in the five (5) or fewer fiscal years beginning July 1, 2010, the commissioner of finance and administration annually shall transfer from the heritage conservation trust fund to the general fund an amount of nine hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($937,500), plus annual interest earnings on that amount, plus any unexpended balance of four million dollars ($4,000,000) remaining after certain commitments of the trust fund have been satisfied, plus other available sources, until the general fund has been reimbursed for a four-million-dollar ($4,000,000) appropriation made in fiscal year 2008-2009. The four-million-dollar appropriation has been provided to allow the state to fulfill commitments made before November 2008, while a nine million three hundred seventy-five thousand dollar ($9,375,000) lease payment for timber rights is earned over a ten-year period. For purposes of this subsection (h), the term “other available sources” shall not include gifts, contributions, bequests, donations and grants, if the funds are restricted for specific acquisitions or purposes.
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