1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to transportation; modifying the price of surplus easement or property 
1.3 	acquired for transportation purposes and offered for reconveyance to the original 
1.4 	owner;amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 161.43; 161.44, subdivision 
1.5 	2; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 160.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [160.035] RECONVEYING SURPLUS TRANSPORTATION LAND.
1.8 	A road authority that determines to dispose of real property or an easement no 
1.9 	longer needed for transportation purposes must first offer the property to the person, or 
1.10 	the person's surviving spouse, from whom the real property or easement was acquired, as 
1.11 	provided in section 161.43 or 161.44, subdivision 2.

1.12 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 161.43, is amended to read:
1.13 	161.43 RELINQUISHMENT OF HIGHWAY EASEMENT.
1.14 	The commissioner of transportation may relinquish and quitclaim to the fee owner 
1.15 	an easement or portion of an easement owned but no longer needed by the Transportation 
1.16 	Department for trunk highway purposes, upon payment to the Transportation Department 
1.17 	of an amount of money equal to the lesser of the appraised current market value of the 
1.18 	easement or the amount paid to the owner for acquisition of the easement, without interest. 
1.19 	If the fee owner refuses to pay the required amount, or if after diligent search the fee owner 
1.20 	cannot be found, the commissioner may convey the easement to an agency or to a political 
1.21 	subdivision of the state upon terms and conditions agreed upon, or the commissioner may 
1.22 	acquire the fee title to the land underlying the easement in the manner provided in section  
1.23 	161.20, subdivision 2. After acquisition of the fee title, the lands may be sold to the 
2.1 	highest responsible bidder upon three weeks' published notice of the sale in a newspaper 
2.2 	or other periodical of general circulation in the county where the land is located. All bids 
2.3 	may be rejected and new bids received upon like publication. If the lands remain unsold 
2.4 	after being offered for sale to the highest bidder, the commissioner may retain the services 
2.5 	of a licensed real estate broker to find a buyer. The sale price may be negotiated by the 
2.6 	broker, but must not be less than 90 percent of the appraised market value as determined 
2.7 	by the commissioner. The broker's fee must be established by prior agreement between the 
2.8 	commissioner and the broker, and must not exceed ten percent of the sale price for sales of 
2.9 	$10,000 or more. The broker's fee must be paid to the broker from the proceeds of the sale. 

2.10 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 161.44, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.11 		Subd. 2.Reconveyance; remainder owned by vendor or surviving spouse. If the 
2.12 	lands were part of a larger tract and the remainder of the tract is still owned by the person 
2.13 	or the person's surviving spouse from whom the lands were acquired, or if the lands 
2.14 	constituted an entire tract, the lands must first be offered for reconveyance to the previous 
2.15 	owner or the owner's surviving spouse. When lands are offered for reconveyance, the 
2.16 	amount of money to be repaid for those lands must be the lesser of the appraised current 
2.17 	market value of the lands to be reconveyed or the amount paid to the owner for acquisition, 
2.18 	without interest. The offer must be made by certified mail addressed to the person at the 
2.19 	person's last known address. The person or the person's surviving spouse shall have 60 
2.20 	days from the date of mailing the offer to accept and to tender to the commissioner the 
2.21 	required sum of money.

2.22 	Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
 2.23 	This act is effective the day following final enactment and applies to reconveyance 
2.24 	of property on or after that date, no matter when the property was acquired by a road 
2.25 	authority.