1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public lands; notice requirements for 
  1.3             sales of tax-forfeited lands; leasing of tax-forfeited 
  1.4             lands; roads used by counties on tax-forfeited lands; 
  1.5             amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 282.02; and 
  1.6             282.04, subdivision 1, and by adding a subdivision. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 282.02, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     282.02 [LIST OF LANDS FOR SALE; NOTICE.] 
  1.11     Immediately after classification and appraisal of the land, 
  1.12  and after approval by the commissioner of natural resources when 
  1.13  required pursuant to section 282.01, subdivision 3, the county 
  1.14  board shall provide and file with the county auditor a list of 
  1.15  parcels of land to be offered for sale.  This list shall contain 
  1.16  a description of the parcels of land and the appraised value 
  1.17  thereof.  The auditor shall publish a notice of the intended 
  1.18  public sale of such parcels of land and a copy of the resolution 
  1.19  of the county board fixing the terms of the sale, if other than 
  1.20  for cash only, by publication once a week for two weeks in the 
  1.21  official newspaper of the county, the last publication to be not 
  1.22  less than ten days previous to the commencement of the sale.  
  1.23     The notice shall include the parcel's description and 
  1.24  appraised value.  The notice shall also indicate the amount of 
  1.25  any special assessments which may be the subject of a 
  1.26  reassessment or new assessment or which may result in the 
  2.1   imposition of a fee or charge pursuant to sections 429.071, 
  2.2   subdivision 4, 435.23, and 444.076.  The county auditor shall 
  2.3   also mail notice to the owners of land adjoining the parcel to 
  2.4   be sold and to the owners of platted or unplatted land whose 
  2.5   boundaries are within 300 feet of the boundaries of a parcel 
  2.6   offered for sale having an appraised value of $1,000 or more.  
  2.7   For purposes of this section, "owner" means the taxpayer as 
  2.8   listed in the records of the county auditor.  
  2.9      If the county board of St. Louis or Koochiching counties 
  2.10  determines that the sale shall take place in a county facility 
  2.11  other than the courthouse, the notice shall specify the facility 
  2.12  and its location. 
  2.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 282.04, 
  2.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.15     Subdivision 1.  [TIMBER SALES; LAND LEASES AND USES.] The 
  2.16  county auditor may sell timber upon any tract that may be 
  2.17  approved by the natural resources commissioner.  Such sale of 
  2.18  timber shall be made for cash at not less than the appraised 
  2.19  value determined by the county board to the highest bidder after 
  2.20  not less than one week's published notice in an official paper 
  2.21  within the county.  Any timber offered at such public sale and 
  2.22  not sold may thereafter be sold at private sale by the county 
  2.23  auditor at not less than the appraised value thereof, until such 
  2.24  time as the county board may withdraw such timber from sale.  
  2.25  The appraised value of the timber and the forestry practices to 
  2.26  be followed in the cutting of said timber shall be approved by 
  2.27  the commissioner of natural resources.  Payment of the full sale 
  2.28  price of all timber sold on tax-forfeited lands shall be made in 
  2.29  cash at the time of the timber sale, except in the case of oral 
  2.30  or sealed bid auction sales, the down payment shall be 25 
  2.31  percent of the appraised value, and the balance shall be paid 
  2.32  prior to entry.  In the case of auction sales that are 
  2.33  partitioned and sold as a single sale with predetermined cutting 
  2.34  blocks, the down payment shall be 25 percent of the appraised 
  2.35  price of the entire timber sale which may be held until the 
  2.36  satisfactory completion of the sale or applied in whole or in 
  3.1   part to the final cutting block.  The value of each separate 
  3.2   block must be paid in full before any cutting may begin in that 
  3.3   block.  With the permission of the county administrator the 
  3.4   purchaser may enter unpaid blocks and cut necessary timber 
  3.5   incidental to developing logging roads as may be needed to log 
  3.6   other blocks provided that no timber may be removed from an 
  3.7   unpaid block until separately scaled and paid for.  The county 
  3.8   board may require final settlement on the basis of a scale of 
  3.9   cut products.  Any parcels of land from which timber is to be 
  3.10  sold by scale of cut products shall be so designated in the 
  3.11  published notice of sale above mentioned, in which case the 
  3.12  notice shall contain a description of such parcels, a statement 
  3.13  of the estimated quantity of each species of timber thereon and 
  3.14  the appraised price of each specie of timber for 1,000 feet, per 
  3.15  cord or per piece, as the case may be.  In such cases any bids 
  3.16  offered over and above the appraised prices shall be by 
  3.17  percentage, the percent bid to be added to the appraised price 
  3.18  of each of the different species of timber advertised on the 
  3.19  land.  The purchaser of timber from such parcels shall pay in 
  3.20  cash at the time of sale at the rate bid for all of the timber 
  3.21  shown in the notice of sale as estimated to be standing on the 
  3.22  land, and in addition shall pay at the same rate for any 
  3.23  additional amounts which the final scale shows to have been cut 
  3.24  or was available for cutting on the land at the time of sale 
  3.25  under the terms of such sale.  Where the final scale of cut 
  3.26  products shows that less timber was cut or was available for 
  3.27  cutting under terms of such sale than was originally paid for, 
  3.28  the excess payment shall be refunded from the forfeited tax sale 
  3.29  fund upon the claim of the purchaser, to be audited and allowed 
  3.30  by the county board as in case of other claims against the 
  3.31  county.  No timber, except hardwood pulpwood, may be removed 
  3.32  from such parcels of land or other designated landings until 
  3.33  scaled by a person or persons designated by the county board and 
  3.34  approved by the commissioner of natural resources.  Landings 
  3.35  other than the parcel of land from which timber is cut may be 
  3.36  designated for scaling by the county board by written agreement 
  4.1   with the purchaser of the timber.  The county board may, by 
  4.2   written agreement with the purchaser and with a consumer 
  4.3   designated by the purchaser when the timber is sold by the 
  4.4   county auditor, and with the approval of the commissioner of 
  4.5   natural resources, accept the consumer's scale of cut products 
  4.6   delivered at the consumer's landing.  No timber shall be removed 
  4.7   until fully paid for in cash.  Small amounts of timber not 
  4.8   exceeding $3,000 in appraised valuation may be sold for not less 
  4.9   than the full appraised value at private sale to individual 
  4.10  persons without first publishing notice of sale or calling for 
  4.11  bids, provided that in case of such sale involving a total 
  4.12  appraised value of more than $200 the sale shall be made subject 
  4.13  to final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut products in 
  4.14  the manner above provided and not more than two such sales, 
  4.15  directly or indirectly to any individual shall be in effect at 
  4.16  one time. 
  4.17     As directed by the county board, the county auditor may 
  4.18  lease tax-forfeited land to individuals, corporations or 
  4.19  organized subdivisions of the state at public or private vendue, 
  4.20  and at such prices and under such terms as the county board may 
  4.21  prescribe, for use as cottage and camp sites and for 
  4.22  agricultural purposes and for the purpose of taking and removing 
  4.23  of hay, stumpage, sand, gravel, clay, rock, marl, and black dirt 
  4.24  therefrom, and for garden sites and other temporary uses 
  4.25  provided that no leases shall be for a period to exceed ten 
  4.26  years; provided, further that any leases involving a 
  4.27  consideration of more than $300 $1,500 per year, except to an 
  4.28  organized subdivision of the state shall first be offered at 
  4.29  public sale in the manner provided herein for sale of timber.  
  4.30  Upon the sale of any such leased land, it shall remain subject 
  4.31  to the lease for not to exceed one year from the beginning of 
  4.32  the term of the lease.  Any rent paid by the lessee for the 
  4.33  portion of the term cut off by such cancellation shall be 
  4.34  refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the 
  4.35  lessee, to be audited and allowed by the county board as in case 
  4.36  of other claims against the county. 
  5.1      The county auditor, with the approval of the county board 
  5.2   is authorized to grant permits, licenses, and leases to 
  5.3   tax-forfeited lands for the depositing of stripping, lean ores, 
  5.4   tailings, or waste products from mines or ore milling plants, 
  5.5   upon such conditions and for such consideration and for such 
  5.6   period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county board may 
  5.7   determine; said permits, licenses, or leases to be subject to 
  5.8   approval by the commissioner of natural resources. 
  5.9      Any person who removes any timber from tax-forfeited land 
  5.10  before said timber has been scaled and fully paid for as 
  5.11  provided in this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
  5.12     The county auditor may, with the approval of the county 
  5.13  board, and without first offering at public sale, grant leases, 
  5.14  for a term not exceeding 25 years, for the removal of peat from 
  5.15  tax-forfeited lands upon such terms and conditions as the county 
  5.16  board may prescribe.  Any lease for the removal of peat from 
  5.17  tax-forfeited lands must first be reviewed and approved by the 
  5.18  commissioner of natural resources if the lease covers 320 or 
  5.19  more acres.  No lease for the removal of peat shall be made by 
  5.20  the county auditor pursuant to this section without first 
  5.21  holding a public hearing on the auditor's intention to lease.  
  5.22  One printed notice in a legal newspaper in the county at least 
  5.23  ten days before the hearing, and posted notice in the courthouse 
  5.24  at least 20 days before the hearing shall be given of the 
  5.25  hearing. 
  5.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 282.04, is 
  5.27  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.28     Subd. 5.  [COUNTY NOT A ROAD AUTHORITY FOR ROADS USED FOR 
  5.29  MANAGING CERTAIN TAX-FORFEITED LANDS.] Notwithstanding section 
  5.30  160.02, subdivision 9, a county is not a road authority under 
  5.31  section 160.05 with respect to a road constructed, acquired, 
  5.32  maintained, or administered by the county for the purpose of 
  5.33  managing tax-forfeited lands that have been classified as 
  5.34  conservation lands under this chapter.