Virginia Law

The Board of Trustees of the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation and the Director of the Department of Historic Resources are authorized on behalf of the Commonwealth to enter into a trust agreement with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, whereby the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities shall be trustee and the Commonwealth shall be beneficiary. The Board of Trustees of the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation is authorized to create a trust fund, to be known as the Historic Preservation Trust Fund, known hereafter as the "Trust Fund," by transferring all of the assets of the Virginia Historic Preservation Revolving Fund to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, as Trustee of the Trust Fund, including its cash, notes, mortgages, other securities, real estate and all its other assets, to be administered as follows:

1. The Trustee shall serve without compensation;

2. The Trust Fund shall be administered and managed by the Property Committee of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities;

3. The Director of the Department of Historic Resources, or his designee, shall serve as a voting member of the Property Committee of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities on all questions concerning properties to be acquired and sold by the Trust Fund;

4. The Trust Fund shall be used for the sole purpose of preserving properties listed or eligible for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register through the acquisition of such properties, or interests therein, the donation of a perpetual preservation easement on such properties to the Board of Historic Resources, and the subsequent resale of properties, or interests therein, thus protected to appropriate individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations or other legal entities, or the resale or transfer to appropriate public agencies, when, in the discretion of the Trustee, such action is the best feasible means of protecting such properties from an identifiable threat of destruction or from the loss of those qualities for which they were designated or eligible to be designated as landmarks by the Board of Historic Resources; and

5. The Trust Fund shall be operated as a revolving fund and all proceeds from the resale of properties, and any income which may accrue on the trust properties, shall be returned to and deposited in the Trust Fund.

The terms, conditions and form of the trust agreement shall be reviewed and approved by the Governor and the Attorney General.

1999, c. 558.

A. The Trust Fund shall consist of the property received pursuant to § 10.1-2404.1 and any gifts, grants, or appropriations made to the Trust Fund. Gifts and bequests of money, securities, and other property to the Trust Fund, and the income therefrom, shall be deemed to be gifts to the Commonwealth and therefore exempt from all state and local taxes. Any income earned from gifts, bequests, rent, securities, and other property of the Trust Fund shall be the property of the Trust Fund. Any gifts received by the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation while the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities is administering the Trust Fund, as well as any income which may accrue thereon, shall be deposited in the Trust Fund within ninety days of receipt.

B. By November 1 of each year, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities shall submit a copy of its audited financial statement to the Director of the Department of Historic Resources and to the Attorney General.

C. Prior to January 1, 2003, the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation is authorized to review the operation of the Trust Fund. If it finds that such operation is not fulfilling the requirements of the trust agreement, it may recommend to the Governor that the trust agreement with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities be terminated. If the Governor finds that such termination is in the best interest of the Commonwealth, he may direct the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities to reconvey all the assets of the Trust Fund to the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation.

D. On and after January 1, 2003, if the Fund has not been reconveyed to the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation, (i) the Foundation shall cease to exist and its minutes and any remaining assets shall become the property of the Department of Historic Resources and (ii) the Attorney General shall have the authority to take legal action on behalf of the Commonwealth to enforce the terms of the trust agreement established under § 10.1-2404.1.

1999, c. 558.