Minnesota Session Laws - 1995, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 121-H.F.No. 1425 
                  An act relating to tax-forfeited land; modifying the 
                  terms of payment for certain tax-forfeited timber; 
                  amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 282.04, 
                  subdivision 1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 282.04, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [TIMBER SALES; LAND LEASES AND USES.] The 
        county auditor may sell timber upon any tract that may be 
        approved by the natural resources commissioner.  Such 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 such 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 such 
        time as the county board may withdraw such 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.  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 25 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 25 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 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.  The county board may require final settlement on the basis 
        of a scale of cut products.  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 above mentioned, in 
        which case the notice shall contain a description of such 
        parcels, a statement of the estimated quantity of each species 
        of timber thereon and the appraised price of each specie of 
        timber for 1,000 feet, per cord or per piece, as the case may 
        be.  In such 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 such 
        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 such sale.  Where the final 
        scale of cut products shows that less timber was cut or was 
        available for cutting under terms of such 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 such 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 such 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 such 
        sales, directly or indirectly to any individual shall be in 
        effect at one time. 
           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 vendue, 
        and at such prices and under such 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 
        therefrom, 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 $300 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 such 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 such 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. 
           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 such conditions and for such consideration and for such 
        period of time, not exceeding 15 years, as the county board may 
        determine; said permits, licenses, or leases to be subject to 
        approval by the commissioner of natural resources. 
           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. 
           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 from 
        tax-forfeited lands upon such terms and conditions as the county 
        board may prescribe.  Any lease for the removal of peat 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 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. 
           Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 4, 1995 
           Signed by the governor May 5, 1995, 9:02 a.m.