The county commissioners or county supervisors of any county in this state shall have authority to expend from the general fund of the county during any one year the proceeds of a tax of three-tenths of one cent on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of all taxable property in the county for the purchase and erection of suitable monuments or markers and the purchase of historic sites on which the monuments or markers are located within the county. In any county having a nonprofit historical association or society organized under the corporation laws of this state, the county commissioners or supervisors may grant to such association or society the amount authorized for expenditure by this section upon application by the association or society. Such funds may then be expended, at the direction of the board of directors of such association or society, for the following purposes: (1) Establishment, construction, and reconstruction of historical buildings; (2) purchase of exhibits, equipment, and real and personal property of historical significance and the maintenance thereof; and (3) lease, rental, purchase or construction, and maintenance of buildings other than those of historical nature for the display and storage of exhibits.