A. On receipt of an application and payment of the fee prescribed by this section, the Commissioner shall issue special license plates to supporters of dog and cat sterilization programs. B. The annual fee for plates issued pursuant to this section shall be twenty-five dollars in addition to the prescribed fee for state license plates. For each such twenty-five-dollar fee collected in excess of 1,000 registrations pursuant to this section, fifteen dollars shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to a special nonreverting fund known as the Dog and Cat Sterilization Fund, established within the Department of Accounts. These funds shall be paid annually to the locality in which the vehicle is registered and shall be used by the localities to which they are paid to support sterilization programs for dogs and cats. Each affected locality shall annually certify in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner that these funds have been or are being used to support sterilization programs for dogs and cats. If an affected locality does not have such a sterilization program, it shall (i) make the funds available to any private, nonprofit sterilization program for dogs and cats in that locality; (ii) return the funds to the Commissioner; or (iii) refuse the funds. Any funds refused, returned to the Commissioner, or otherwise not paid to an affected locality shall be distributed to other affected localities on a pro rata basis. 1996, c. 922 .
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