1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to local government; providing for detachment from a municipality;
1.3 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, by 
1.4 	adding subdivisions.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Initiating the proceeding. Property which is situated within a 
1.8 	municipality and abutting the municipal boundary, rural in character and not developed 
1.9 	for urban residential, commercial, or industrial purposes may be detached from the 
1.10 	municipality according to the following procedure. The proceeding may be initiated by 
1.11 	submitting to the chief administrative law judge a resolution of the municipality to which 
1.12 	the land is attached or by submitting to the chief administrative law judge a petition of all 
1.13 	of the property owners of the land to be detached if the area is less than 40 acres or of 75 
1.14 	percent of the property owners if over 40 acres. The petition or resolution shall set forth 
1.15 	the boundaries and the area of the land to be detached, the number and character of the 
1.16 	buildings, the resident population, and the municipal improvements, if any, in the area, and 
1.17 	a statement of the reasons the petitioners or the municipality is seeking the detachment. In 
1.18 	addition, the petitioners shall summarize what, if any, efforts were undertaken prior to 
1.19 	filing the resolution or petition to resolve the issues forming the basis for the resolution 
1.20 	or petition. If a petition is submitted without a resolution from the city, the petitioners 
1.21 	shall also provide a copy of the petition to the city from which the land may be detached, 
1.22 	and if the petition includes land for which a property owner has not signed the petition, 
1.23 	to each property owner subject to the petition who has not signed the petition. A copy 
1.24 	must also be mailed or otherwise delivered to the following parties: (1) the clerk of the 
2.1 	town to which the property would be attached if the detachment is granted; (2) the clerk 
2.2 	of any other abutting town or city; and (3) to the county recorder in the county in which 
2.3 	the land is located.

2.4 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, is amended by adding a subdivision 
2.5 	to read:
2.6 		Subd. 1a.Town options. Upon receipt of the notice provided in subdivision 1, the 
2.7 	town board of the town to which the land is proposed to be attached may submit to the 
2.8 	chief administrative law judge a resolution stating that the town board supports, opposes, 
2.9 	or is neutral to the petition. The failure to submit a resolution before any hearing required 
2.10 	under this section must be deemed a position of neutrality. If the town submits a resolution 
2.11 	of support for a petition opposed by the municipality from which the land is proposed to 
2.12 	be detached, or a resolution in opposition to a petition supported by a resolution of the 
2.13 	municipality, the town becomes a party to the hearing required under this section and is 
2.14 	subject to the distribution of costs as provided in subdivision 7.

2.15 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.16 		Subd. 2.Hearing, if needed. If both a resolution of support from the municipality 
2.17 	and a petition by all the property owners are submitted, and no resolution of opposition 
2.18 	has been received from a town as provided in subdivision 1a, no hearing is necessary
2.19 	and the chief administrative law judge shall grant the petition. If both the municipality 
2.20 	and town submit a resolution opposing the petition, a hearing must not be held and the 
2.21 	chief administrative law judge shall deny the petition. In any other case, upon receipt of 
2.22 	a petition or resolution, the chief administrative law judge shall designate a time and 
2.23 	place for a hearing in accordance with section 414.09, except that instead of the meetings 
2.24 	otherwise required under section 414.01, subdivision 16, the chief administrative law 
2.25 	judge shall order the parties to participate in a mediation session. The mediator must be on 
2.26 	a list of mediators approved by the Office of Administrative Hearings, unless the parties 
2.27 	stipulate to a mediator not on the list. The cost of the mediation must be apportioned 
2.28 	as provided for in subdivision 7.

2.29 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
2.30 		Subd. 3.Order. Upon completion of the hearing, the chief administrative law 
2.31 	judge may order the detachment on finding that the requisite number of property owners 
2.32 	have signed the petition if initiated by the property owners, that the property is rural in 
2.33 	character and not developed for urban residential, commercial or industrial purposes, that 
3.1 	the property is within the boundaries of the municipality and abuts a boundary, that the 
3.2 	detachment would not unreasonably affect the symmetry of the detaching municipality, 
3.3 	and that the land is not needed for reasonably anticipated future development. In 
3.4 	making the findings, the chief administrative law judge shall consider all applicable 
3.5 	comprehensive plans, land use regulations, and land use maps of the affected municipality, 
3.6 	town, and county that have been adopted at the time the petition was submitted. The 
3.7 	chief administrative law judge may deny the detachment on finding that the remainder 
3.8 	of the municipality cannot continue to carry on the functions of government without 
3.9 	undue hardship. The chief administrative law judge may decrease the area of property 
3.10 	to be detached and may include only a part of the proposed area to be detached. If the 
3.11 	tract abuts more than one township town, it shall become a part of each township town, 
3.12 	being divided by projecting through it the boundary line between the townships towns. 
3.13 	The detached area may be relieved of the primary responsibility for existing indebtedness 
3.14 	of the municipality and be required to assume the indebtedness of the township town of 
3.15 	which it becomes a part, in such proportion as the chief administrative law judge shall 
3.16 	deem just and equitable having in view the amount of taxes due and delinquent and the 
3.17 	indebtedness of each township town and the municipality affected, if any, and for what 
3.18 	purpose the same was incurred, all in relation to the benefit inuring to the detached area as 
3.19 	a result of the indebtedness and the last net tax capacity of the taxable property in each 
3.20 	township town and municipality.

3.21 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 414.06, is amended by adding a subdivision 
3.22 	to read:
3.23 		Subd. 7.Costs. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 414.067, the chief 
3.24 	administrative law judge shall apportion the costs of the mediation and hearing in an 
3.25 	equitable manner, but unless the chief administrative law judge makes specific findings 
3.26 	as to why a party shall be responsible for a greater share, the petitioning landowners are 
3.27 	responsible for at least 50 percent of the total costs.