2007 Minnesota Statutes

94.10 SURVEYS, APPRAISALS, AND SALE.
    Subdivision 1. Appraisal; notice and offer to public bodies. (a) Before offering any surplus
state-owned lands for sale, the commissioner of natural resources must establish the value of the
lands. The commissioner shall have the lands appraised if the estimated value is in excess of
$50,000. No parcel of state-owned land shall be sold for less than $1,000.
(b) The appraisals must be made by regularly appointed and qualified state appraisers.
To be qualified, an appraiser must hold a state appraiser license issued by the Department of
Commerce. The appraisal must be in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional
Appraisal Practice of the Appraisal Foundation.
(c) Before offering surplus state-owned lands for public sale, the lands shall first be offered
to the city, county, town, school district, or other public body corporate or politic in which the
lands are situated for public purposes and the lands may be sold for public purposes for not less
than the appraised value of the lands. To determine whether a public body desires to purchase the
surplus land, the commissioner of natural resources shall give a written notice to the governing
body of each political subdivision whose jurisdictional boundaries include or are adjacent to the
surplus land. If a public body desires to purchase the surplus land, it shall submit a written offer to
the commissioner no later than two weeks after receipt of notice setting forth in detail its reasons
for desiring to acquire and its intended use of the land. In the event that more than one public
body tenders an offer, the commissioner shall determine which party shall receive the property
and shall submit written findings regarding the decision. If lands are offered for sale for public
purposes and if a public body notifies the commissioner of its desire to acquire the lands, the
public body may have up to two years from the date of the accepted offer to commence payment
for the lands in the manner provided by law.
    Subd. 2. Public sale requirements. (a) After complying with subdivision 1 and before
any public sale of surplus state-owned land is made and at least 30 days before the sale, the
commissioner of natural resources shall publish a notice of the sale in a newspaper of general
distribution in the county in which the real property to be sold is situated. The notice shall specify
the time and place at which the sale will commence, a general description of the lots or tracts
to be offered, and a general statement of the terms of sale. The commissioner shall also provide
electronic notice of sale.
(b) The minimum bid for a parcel of land must include the estimated value or appraised value
of the land and any improvements and, if any of the land is valuable for merchantable timber,
the value of the merchantable timber. The minimum bid may include expenses incurred by the
commissioner in rendering the property salable, including survey, appraisal, legal, advertising,
and other expenses.
(c) Parcels remaining unsold after the offering may be sold to anyone agreeing to pay the
appraised value. The sale shall continue until all parcels are sold or until the commissioner orders
a reappraisal or withdraws the remaining parcels from sale.
History: (6443) 1909 c 452 s 2; 1957 c 861 s 4; 1969 c 897 s 2; 1971 c 911 s 1; 1973 c 123
art 5 s 7; 1974 c 184 s 7; 1975 c 81 s 6; 1980 c 614 s 79; 1984 c 543 s 4; 1984 c 601 s 1; 1986 c
444; 1993 c 285 s 11; 1997 c 216 s 75; 2004 c 262 art 1 s 34