The secretary of transportation is hereby authorized, in his or her discretion, to expend out of any funds available for the purpose, such moneys as may be necessary for the study of any public port economic development or tourism project or projects and to use the division of highway's engineering and other forces, including consulting engineers and traffic engineers, for the purpose of effecting such study and to pay for such additional engineering and traffic and other expert studies as he may deem expedient; and all such expenses incurred by the state Department of Transportation and the state Division of Highways prior to the issuance of public port revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds under the provisions of this article shall be paid by the state division of highways or the state Department of Transportation and charged to the appropriate project or projects, and the state Division of Highways and the state Department of Transportation shall keep proper records and accounts showing each amount so charged. Upon the sale of public port revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds for any public port project or projects, the funds so expended by the state Division of Highways or the state Department of Transportation in connection with such project or projects shall be reimbursed to the state Division of Highways and the state Department of Transportation from the proceeds of such bonds.