SF 850

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to tax forfeited lands; providing for timber sales; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2006, section 282.04, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 282.04, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Timber sales; land leases and uses.

(a) The county auditor may
sell timber upon any tract that may be approved by the natural resources commissioner.
The sale of timber shall be made for cash at not less than the appraised value determined
by the county board to the highest bidder after not less than one week's published notice
in an official paper within the county. Any timber offered at the public sale and not sold
may thereafter be sold at private sale by the county auditor at not less than the appraised
value thereof, until the time as the county board may withdraw the timber from sale. The
appraised value of the timber and the forestry practices to be followed in the cutting of
said timber shall be approved by the commissioner of natural resources.

(b) Payment of the full sale price of all timber sold on tax-forfeited lands shall be
made in cash at the time of the timber sale, except in the case of oral or sealed bid auction
sales, the down payment shall be no less than 15 percent of the appraised value, and the
balance shall be paid prior to entry. In the case of auction sales that are partitioned and
sold as a single sale with predetermined cutting blocks, the down payment shall be no less
than 15 percent of the appraised price of the entire timber sale which may be held until the
satisfactory completion of the sale or applied in whole or in part to the final cutting block.
The value of each separate block must be paid in full before any cutting may begin in that
block. With the permission of the county contract administrator the purchaser may enter
unpaid blocks and cut necessary timber incidental to developing logging roads as may
be needed to log other blocks provided that no timber may be removed from an unpaid
block until separately scaled and paid for. If payment is provided as specified in this
paragraph as security under paragraph (a) and no cutting has taken place on the contract,
the county auditor may credit the security provided, less any down payment required for
an auction sale under this paragraph, to any other contract issued to the contract holder
by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in writing that it
be credited, provided the request and transfer is made within the same calendar year as
the security was received.

(c) The county board may deleted text begin require final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut
products deleted text end new text begin sell any timber, including biomass, as appraised or scaled, at its discretion new text end .
Any parcels of land from which timber is to be sold by scale of cut products shall be so
designated in the published notice of sale under paragraph (a), in which case the notice
shall contain a description of the parcels, a statement of the estimated quantity of each
species of timber, and the appraised price of each species of timber for 1,000 feet, per cord
or per piece, as the case may be. In those cases any bids offered over and above the
appraised prices shall be by percentage, the percent bid to be added to the appraised price
of each of the different species of timber advertised on the land. The purchaser of timber
from the parcels shall pay in cash at the time of sale at the rate bid for all of the timber
shown in the notice of sale as estimated to be standing on the land, and in addition shall
pay at the same rate for any additional amounts which the final scale shows to have been
cut or was available for cutting on the land at the time of sale under the terms of the sale.
Where the final scale of cut products shows that less timber was cut or was available
for cutting under terms of the sale than was originally paid for, the excess payment
shall be refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the purchaser, to be
audited and allowed by the county board as in case of other claims against the county. No
timber, except hardwood pulpwood, may be removed from the parcels of land or other
designated landings until scaled by a person or persons designated by the county board
and approved by the commissioner of natural resources. Landings other than the parcel
of land from which timber is cut may be designated for scaling by the county board by
written agreement with the purchaser of the timber. The county board may, by written
agreement with the purchaser and with a consumer designated by the purchaser when the
timber is sold by the county auditor, and with the approval of the commissioner of natural
resources, accept the consumer's scale of cut products delivered at the consumer's landing.
No timber shall be removed until fully paid for in cash. Small amounts of timber not
exceeding $3,000 in appraised valuation may be sold for not less than the full appraised
value at private sale to individual persons without first publishing notice of sale or calling
for bids, provided that in case of a sale involving a total appraised value of more than $200
the sale shall be made subject to final settlement on the basis of a scale of cut products in
the manner above provided and not more than two of the sales, directly or indirectly to any
individual shall be in effect at one time.

(d) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
to individuals, corporations or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
and at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for use as cottage
and camp sites and for agricultural purposes and for the purpose of taking and removing of
hay, stumpage, sand, gravel, clay, rock, marl, and black dirt from the land, and for garden
sites and other temporary uses provided that no leases shall be for a period to exceed ten
years; provided, further that any leases involving a consideration of more than $12,000 per
year, except to an organized subdivision of the state shall first be offered at public sale in
the manner provided herein for sale of timber. Upon the sale of any leased land, it shall
remain subject to the lease for not to exceed one year from the beginning of the term of the
lease. Any rent paid by the lessee for the portion of the term cut off by the cancellation
shall be refunded from the forfeited tax sale fund upon the claim of the lessee, to be
audited and allowed by the county board as in case of other claims against the county.

(e) As directed by the county board, the county auditor may lease tax-forfeited land
to individuals, corporations, or organized subdivisions of the state at public or private sale,
at the prices and under the terms as the county board may prescribe, for the purpose
of taking and removing for use for road construction and other purposes tax-forfeited
stockpiled iron-bearing material. The county auditor must determine that the material is
needed and suitable for use in the construction or maintenance of a road, tailings basin,
settling basin, dike, dam, bank fill, or other works on public or private property, and
that the use would be in the best interests of the public. No lease shall exceed ten years.
The use of a stockpile for these purposes must first be approved by the commissioner of
natural resources. The request shall be deemed approved unless the requesting county
is notified to the contrary by the commissioner of natural resources within six months
after receipt of a request for approval for use of a stockpile. Once use of a stockpile has
been approved, the county may continue to lease it for these purposes until approval is
withdrawn by the commissioner of natural resources.

(f) The county auditor, with the approval of the county board is authorized to grant
permits, licenses, and leases to tax-forfeited lands for the depositing of stripping, lean
ores, tailings, or waste products from mines or ore milling plants, upon the conditions and
for the consideration and for the period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county
board may determine. The permits, licenses, or leases are subject to approval by the
commissioner of natural resources.

(g) Any person who removes any timber from tax-forfeited land before said
timber has been scaled and fully paid for as provided in this subdivision is guilty of a
misdemeanor.

(h) The county auditor may, with the approval of the county board, and without first
offering at public sale, grant leases, for a term not exceeding 25 years, for the removal
of peat and for the production or removal of farm-grown closed-loop biomass as defined
in section 216B.2424, subdivision 1, or short-rotation woody crops from tax-forfeited
lands upon the terms and conditions as the county board may prescribe. Any lease for
the removal of peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops
from tax-forfeited lands must first be reviewed and approved by the commissioner of
natural resources if the lease covers 320 or more acres. No lease for the removal of
peat, farm-grown closed-loop biomass, or short-rotation woody crops shall be made by
the county auditor pursuant to this section without first holding a public hearing on the
auditor's intention to lease. One printed notice in a legal newspaper in the county at least
ten days before the hearing, and posted notice in the courthouse at least 20 days before
the hearing shall be given of the hearing.

(i) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (c) to the contrary, the St. Louis
County auditor may, at the discretion of the county board, sell timber to the party who
bids the highest price for all the several kinds of timber, as provided for sales by the
commissioner of natural resources under section 90.14. Bids offered over and above the
appraised price need not be applied proportionately to the appraised price of each of
the different species of timber.

(j) In lieu of any payment or deposit required in paragraph (b), as directed by the
county board and under terms set by the county board, the county auditor may accept an
irrevocable bank letter of credit in the amount equal to the amount otherwise determined
in paragraph (b). If an irrevocable bank letter of credit is provided under this paragraph,
at the written request of the purchaser, the county may periodically allow the bank letter
of credit to be reduced by an amount proportionate to the value of timber that has been
harvested and for which the county has received payment. The remaining amount of
the bank letter of credit after a reduction under this paragraph must not be less than 20
percent of the value of the timber purchased. If an irrevocable bank letter of credit or
cash deposit is provided for the down payment required in paragraph (b), and no cutting
of timber has taken place on the contract for which a letter of credit has been provided,
the county may allow the transfer of the letter of credit to any other contract issued to the
contract holder by the county under this chapter to which the contract holder requests in
writing that it be credited.