Minnesota Session Laws - 2003, Regular Session

                             CHAPTER 50-S.F.No. 891 
                  An act relating to housing and redevelopment 
                  authorities; authorizing an authority to create 
                  certain legal entities to engage in housing 
                  activities; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 
                  469.012, subdivision 1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 469.012, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [SCHEDULE OF POWERS.] An authority shall be 
        a public body corporate and politic and shall have all the 
        powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of 
        sections 469.001 to 469.047, except that the power to levy and 
        collect taxes or special assessments is limited to the power 
        provided in sections 469.027 to 469.033.  Its powers include the 
        following powers in addition to others granted in sections 
        469.001 to 469.047:  
           (1) to sue and be sued; to have a seal, which shall be 
        judicially noticed, and to alter it; to have perpetual 
        succession; and to make, amend, and repeal rules consistent with 
        sections 469.001 to 469.047; 
           (2) to employ an executive director, technical experts, and 
        officers, agents, and employees, permanent and temporary, that 
        it requires, and determine their qualifications, duties, and 
        compensation; for legal services it requires, to call upon the 
        chief law officer of the city or to employ its own counsel and 
        legal staff; so far as practicable, to use the services of local 
        public bodies in its area of operation, provided that those 
        local public bodies, if requested, shall make the services 
        available; 
           (3) to delegate to one or more of its agents or employees 
        the powers or duties it deems proper; 
           (4) within its area of operation, to undertake, prepare, 
        carry out, and operate projects and to provide for the 
        construction, reconstruction, improvement, extension, 
        alteration, or repair of any project or part thereof; 
           (5) subject to the provisions of section 469.026, to give, 
        sell, transfer, convey, or otherwise dispose of real or personal 
        property or any interest therein and to execute leases, deeds, 
        conveyances, negotiable instruments, purchase agreements, and 
        other contracts or instruments, and take action that is 
        necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of these 
        sections; 
           (6) within its area of operation, to acquire real or 
        personal property or any interest therein by gifts, grant, 
        purchase, exchange, lease, transfer, bequest, devise, or 
        otherwise, and by the exercise of the power of eminent domain, 
        in the manner provided by chapter 117, to acquire real property 
        which it may deem necessary for its purposes, after the adoption 
        by it of a resolution declaring that the acquisition of the real 
        property is necessary to eliminate one or more of the conditions 
        found to exist in the resolution adopted pursuant to section 
        469.003 or to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing for 
        persons of low and moderate income, or is necessary to carry out 
        a redevelopment project.  Real property needed or convenient for 
        a project may be acquired by the authority for the project by 
        condemnation pursuant to this section.  Prior to adoption of a 
        resolution authorizing acquisition of property by condemnation, 
        the governing body of the authority must hold a public hearing 
        on the proposed acquisition after published notice in a 
        newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, which must 
        be made at least one time not less than ten days nor more than 
        30 days prior to the date of the hearing.  The notice must 
        reasonably describe the property to be acquired and state that 
        the purpose of the hearing is to consider acquisition by 
        exercise of the authority's powers of eminent domain.  Not less 
        than ten days before the hearing, notice of the hearing must 
        also be mailed to the owner of each parcel proposed to be 
        acquired, but failure to give mailed notice or any defects in 
        the notice does not invalidate the acquisition.  For the purpose 
        of giving mailed notice, owners are determined in accordance 
        with section 429.031, subdivision 1, paragraph (a).  Property 
        acquired by condemnation under this section may include any 
        property devoted to a public use, whether or not held in trust, 
        notwithstanding that the property may have been previously 
        acquired by condemnation or is owned by a public utility 
        corporation, because the public use in conformity with the 
        provisions of sections 469.001 to 469.047 shall be deemed a 
        superior public use.  Property devoted to a public use may be so 
        acquired only if the governing body of the municipality has 
        approved its acquisition by the authority.  An award of 
        compensation shall not be increased by reason of any increase in 
        the value of the real property caused by the assembly, clearance 
        or reconstruction, or proposed assembly, clearance or 
        reconstruction for the purposes of sections 469.001 to 469.047 
        of the real property in an area; 
           (7) within its area of operation, and without the adoption 
        of an urban renewal plan, to acquire, by all means as set forth 
        in clause (6) but without the adoption of a resolution provided 
        for in clause (6), real property, and to demolish, remove, 
        rehabilitate, or reconstruct the buildings and improvements or 
        construct new buildings and improvements thereon, or to so 
        provide through other means as set forth in Laws 1974, chapter 
        228, or to grade, fill, and construct foundations or otherwise 
        prepare the site for improvements.  The authority may dispose of 
        the property pursuant to section 469.029, provided that the 
        provisions of section 469.029 requiring conformance to an urban 
        renewal plan shall not apply.  The authority may finance these 
        activities by means of the redevelopment project fund or by 
        means of tax increments or tax increment bonds or by the methods 
        of financing provided for in section 469.033 or by means of 
        contributions from the municipality provided for in section 
        469.041, clause (9), or by any combination of those means.  Real 
        property with buildings or improvements thereon shall only be 
        acquired under this clause when the buildings or improvements 
        are substandard.  The exercise of the power of eminent domain 
        under this clause shall be limited to real property which 
        contains, or has contained within the three years immediately 
        preceding the exercise of the power of eminent domain and is 
        currently vacant, buildings and improvements which are vacated 
        and substandard.  Notwithstanding the prior sentence, in cities 
        of the first class the exercise of the power of eminent domain 
        under this clause shall be limited to real property which 
        contains, or has contained within the three years immediately 
        preceding the exercise of the power of eminent domain, buildings 
        and improvements which are substandard.  For the purpose of this 
        clause, substandard buildings or improvements mean hazardous 
        buildings as defined in section 463.15, subdivision 3, or 
        buildings or improvements that are dilapidated or obsolescent, 
        faultily designed, lack adequate ventilation, light, or sanitary 
        facilities, or any combination of these or other factors that 
        are detrimental to the safety or health of the community.  The 
        exercise of the power of eminent domain under this clause is 
        subject to the notice and hearing requirements described in 
        clause (6); 
           (8) within its area of operation, to determine the level of 
        income constituting low or moderate family income.  The 
        authority may establish various income levels for various family 
        sizes.  In making its determination, the authority may consider 
        income levels that may be established by the Department of 
        Housing and Urban Development or a similar or successor federal 
        agency for the purpose of federal loan guarantees or subsidies 
        for persons of low or moderate income.  The authority may use 
        that determination as a basis for the maximum amount of income 
        for admissions to housing development projects or housing 
        projects owned or operated by it; 
           (9) to provide in federally assisted projects any 
        relocation payments and assistance necessary to comply with the 
        requirements of the Federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and 
        Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, and any 
        amendments or supplements thereto; 
           (10) to make an agreement with the governing body or bodies 
        creating the authority which provides exemption from all ad 
        valorem real and personal property taxes levied or imposed by 
        the body or bodies creating the authority.  In the case of 
        low-rent public housing that received financial assistance under 
        the United States Housing Act of 1937, or successor federal 
        legislation, an authority may make an agreement with the 
        governing body or bodies creating the authority to provide 
        exemption from all real and personal property taxes levied or 
        imposed by the state, city, county, or other political 
        subdivision, for which the authority shall make payments in lieu 
        of taxes to the state, city, county, or other political 
        subdivisions as provided in section 469.040.  The governing body 
        shall agree on behalf of all the applicable governing bodies 
        affected that local cooperation as required by the federal 
        government shall be provided by the local governing body or 
        bodies in whose jurisdiction the project is to be located, at no 
        cost or at no greater cost than the same public services and 
        facilities furnished to other residents; 
           (11) to cooperate with or act as agent for the federal 
        government, the state or any state public body, or any agency or 
        instrumentality of the foregoing, in carrying out any of the 
        provisions of sections 469.001 to 469.047 or of any other 
        related federal, state, or local legislation; and upon the 
        consent of the governing body of the city to purchase, lease, 
        manage, or otherwise take over any housing project already owned 
        and operated by the federal government; 
           (12) to make plans for carrying out a program of voluntary 
        repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, and 
        plans for the enforcement of laws, codes, and regulations 
        relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of 
        buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, 
        rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and 
        improvements.  The authority may develop, test, and report 
        methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other 
        activities for the prevention and elimination of slums and 
        blight; 
           (13) to borrow money or other property and accept 
        contributions, grants, gifts, services, or other assistance from 
        the federal government, the state government, state public 
        bodies, or from any other public or private sources; 
           (14) to include in any contract for financial assistance 
        with the federal government any conditions that the federal 
        government may attach to its financial aid of a project, not 
        inconsistent with purposes of sections 469.001 to 469.047, 
        including obligating itself (which obligation shall be 
        specifically enforceable and not constitute a mortgage, 
        notwithstanding any other laws) to convey to the federal 
        government the project to which the contract relates upon the 
        occurrence of a substantial default with respect to the 
        covenants or conditions to which the authority is subject; to 
        provide in the contract that, in case of such conveyance, the 
        federal government may complete, operate, manage, lease, convey, 
        or otherwise deal with the project until the defaults are cured 
        if the federal government agrees in the contract to reconvey to 
        the authority the project as then constituted when the defaults 
        have been cured; 
           (15) to issue bonds for any of its corporate purposes and 
        to secure the bonds by mortgages upon property held or to be 
        held by it or by pledge of its revenues, including grants or 
        contributions; 
           (16) to invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, 
        or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, in 
        property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest 
        funds subject to their control or in the manner and subject to 
        the conditions provided in section 118A.04 for the deposit and 
        investment of public funds; 
           (17) within its area of operation, to determine where 
        blight exists or where there is unsafe, unsanitary, or 
        overcrowded housing; 
           (18) to carry out studies of the housing and redevelopment 
        needs within its area of operation and of the meeting of those 
        needs.  This includes study of data on population and family 
        groups and their distribution according to income groups, the 
        amount and quality of available housing and its distribution 
        according to rentals and sales prices, employment, wages, 
        desirable patterns for land use and community growth, and other 
        factors affecting the local housing and redevelopment needs and 
        the meeting of those needs; to make the results of those studies 
        and analyses available to the public and to building, housing, 
        and supply industries; 
           (19) if a local public body does not have a planning agency 
        or the planning agency has not produced a comprehensive or 
        general community development plan, to make or cause to be made 
        a plan to be used as a guide in the more detailed planning of 
        housing and redevelopment areas; 
           (20) to lease or rent any dwellings, accommodations, lands, 
        buildings, structures, or facilities included in any project 
        and, subject to the limitations contained in sections 469.001 to 
        469.047 with respect to the rental of dwellings in housing 
        projects, to establish and revise the rents or charges therefor; 
           (21) to own, hold, and improve real or personal property 
        and to sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or 
        dispose of any real or personal property or any interest 
        therein; 
           (22) to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or 
        personal property or operations of the authority against any 
        risks or hazards; 
           (23) to procure or agree to the procurement of government 
        insurance or guarantees of the payment of any bonds or parts 
        thereof issued by an authority and to pay premiums on the 
        insurance; 
           (24) to make expenditures necessary to carry out the 
        purposes of sections 469.001 to 469.047; 
           (25) to enter into an agreement or agreements with any 
        state public body to provide informational service and 
        relocation assistance to families, individuals, business 
        concerns, and nonprofit organizations displaced or to be 
        displaced by the activities of any state public body; 
           (26) to compile and maintain a catalog of all vacant, open 
        and undeveloped land, or land which contains substandard 
        buildings and improvements as that term is defined in clause 
        (7), that is owned or controlled by the authority or by the 
        governing body within its area of operation and to compile and 
        maintain a catalog of all authority owned real property that is 
        in excess of the foreseeable needs of the authority, in order to 
        determine and recommend if the real property compiled in either 
        catalog is appropriate for disposal pursuant to the provisions 
        of section 469.029, subdivisions 9 and 10; 
           (27) to recommend to the city concerning the enforcement of 
        the applicable health, housing, building, fire prevention, and 
        housing maintenance code requirements as they relate to 
        residential dwelling structures that are being rehabilitated by 
        low- or moderate-income persons pursuant to section 469.029, 
        subdivision 9, for the period of time necessary to complete the 
        rehabilitation, as determined by the authority; 
           (28) to recommend to the city the initiation of municipal 
        powers, against certain real properties, relating to repair, 
        closing, condemnation, or demolition of unsafe, unsanitary, 
        hazardous, and unfit buildings, as provided in section 469.041, 
        clause (5); 
           (29) to sell, at private or public sale, at the price or 
        prices determined by the authority, any note, mortgage, lease, 
        sublease, lease purchase, or other instrument or obligation 
        evidencing or securing a loan made for the purpose of economic 
        development, job creation, redevelopment, or community 
        revitalization by a public agency to a business, for-profit or 
        nonprofit organization, or an individual; 
           (30) within its area of operation, to acquire and sell real 
        property that is benefited by federal housing assistance 
        payments, other rental subsidies, interest reduction payments, 
        or interest reduction contracts for the purpose of preserving 
        the affordability of low- and moderate-income multifamily 
        housing; 
           (31) to apply for, enter into contracts with the federal 
        government, administer, and carry out a section 8 program.  
        Authorization by the governing body creating the authority to 
        administer the program at the authority's initial application is 
        sufficient to authorize operation of the program in its area of 
        operation for which it was created without additional local 
        governing body approval.  Approval by the governing body or 
        bodies creating the authority constitutes approval of a housing 
        program for purposes of any special or general law requiring 
        local approval of section 8 programs undertaken by city, county, 
        or multicounty authorities; and 
           (32) to secure a mortgage or loan for a rental housing 
        project by obtaining the appointment of receivers or assignments 
        of rents and profits under sections 559.17 and 576.01, except 
        that the limitation relating to the minimum amounts of the 
        original principal balances of mortgages specified in sections 
        559.17, subdivision 2, clause (2); and 576.01, subdivision 2, 
        does not apply; and 
           (33) to become members or shareholders in and enter into or 
        form limited partnerships, limited liability companies, or 
        corporations for the purpose of developing, constructing, 
        rehabilitating, managing, supporting, or preserving housing 
        projects and housing development projects, including low-income 
        housing tax credit projects.  These limited partnerships, 
        limited liability companies, or corporations are subject to all 
        of the provisions of sections 469.001 to 469.047 and other laws 
        that apply to housing and redevelopment authorities, as if the 
        limited partnership, limited liability company, or corporation 
        were a housing and redevelopment authority. 
           Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor May 13, 2003 
           Signed by the governor May 16, 2003, 4:01 p.m.