Omnibus lands bill passed by House

The omnibus lands bill authorizing the sale and exchange of certain state lands is on its way to Gov. Mark Dayton after the House passed HF3401/SF2760* by a vote of 99-28 Wednesday.

Sponsored by Rep. Debra Kiel (R-Crookston) and Sen. Foung Hawj (DFL-St. Paul), the bill was passed by the Senate 60-0 on April 26.

“It’s a bipartisan bill,” Kiel said. “It gives legislative approval, as needed, for certain land transitions.”

In addition to the land sales and exchanges, the bill would also:

• allow Department of Natural Resources-administered property financed with bond funds to be sold without a full appraisal if valued at $50,000 or less;
• add Saint Croix Boom Site Wayside in Washington County to the list of state waysides;
• designate a new state forest as Centennial State Forest;
• add land to five state forests; and
• require a purchaser of state land to pay the recording fees and deed tax.

Some of the House bills involving land sales or exchanges incorporated in the omnibus bill include:

• HF2463 – Lueck – Crow Wing County
• HF2837 – Anzelc – Itasca County
• HF2855 – Kemper – Lake County
• HF2858 – Hancock – Beltrami County
• HF2952 – Backer – Grant County
• HF3015 – Urdahl – Meeker County
• HF3078 – Anderson – Cass County
• HF3198 – Whelan – Anoka County
• HF3232 – Nash – Carver County
• HF3238 – Metsa – St. Louis County
• HF3418 – Baker – Kandiyohi County
• HF3426 – Loonan – Scott County

Much of the property in these bills involves tax-forfeited land, which was in private hands but was lost due to non-payment of taxes. The forfeiture process is not widely understood, but because confiscation is done only as a last resort, it involves six stages before the property is taken:

1. Determination – Once unpaid property taxes are declared delinquent, the respective county auditor adds the property to a delinquent tax list, which is sent to the district court administrator who signs it and sends it back.
2. Publication – The county auditor publishes the list in the county’s designated newspaper and mails a letter and delinquent tax notice to each party on it.
3. Judgement – A court judgement is made against the delinquent parcels and the state obtains a future vested interest in them. This means legal title to the property will be forfeited to the state and held in a trust for the local taxing districts.
4. Redemption – Before the land is forfeited, owners have two methods to remove the lien on their properties: a three-year redemption period when they can pay the delinquent amount; or a confession of judgement where the owner agrees the pay back the delinquent taxes, and other associated fees, in annual installments.
5. Expiration – If no action is taken and the three-year redemption period expires, the property is forfeited.
6. Conveyance – The forfeited property is either sold or conveyed to a local government or state agency. Either way the goal of the six-stage process is complete: to return the land back to taxable status or public use.