2006 Minnesota Statutes

90.14 AUCTION SALE PROCEDURE.
(a) All state timber shall be offered and sold by the same unit of measurement as it was
appraised. No tract shall be sold to any person other than the purchaser in whose name the bid
was made. The commissioner may refuse to approve any and all bids received and cancel a sale of
state timber for good and sufficient reasons.
(b) The purchaser at any sale of timber shall, immediately upon the approval of the bid, or,
if unsold at public auction, at the time of purchase at a subsequent sale under section 90.101,
subdivision 1 , pay to the commissioner a down payment of 15 percent of the appraised value. In
case any purchaser fails to make such payment, the purchaser shall be liable therefor to the state
in a civil action, and the commissioner may reoffer the timber for sale as though no bid or sale
under section 90.101, subdivision 1, therefor had been made.
(c) In lieu of the scaling of state timber required by this chapter, a purchaser of state timber
may, at the time of payment by the purchaser to the commissioner of 15 percent of the appraised
value, elect in writing on a form prescribed by the attorney general to purchase a permit based
solely on the appraiser's estimate of the volume of timber described in the permit, provided
that the commissioner has expressly designated the availability of such option for that tract on
the list of tracts available for sale as required under section 90.101. A purchaser who elects in
writing on a form prescribed by the attorney general to purchase a permit based solely on the
appraiser's estimate of the volume of timber described on the permit does not have recourse
to the provisions of section 90.281.
(d) In the case of a public auction sale conducted by a sealed bid process, tracts shall be
awarded to the high bidder, who shall pay to the commissioner a down payment of 15 percent of
the appraised value within ten business days of receiving a written award notice. If a purchaser
fails to make the down payment, the purchaser is liable for the down payment to the state and
the commissioner may offer the timber for sale to the next highest bidder as though no higher
bid had been made.
(e) Except as otherwise provided by law, at the time the purchaser signs a permit issued
under section 90.151, the purchaser shall make a bid guarantee payment to the commissioner in
an amount equal to 15 percent of the total purchase price of the permit less the down payment
amount required by paragraph (b). If the bid guarantee payment is not submitted with the signed
permit, no harvesting may occur, the permit cancels, and the down payment for timber forfeits to
the state. The bid guarantee payment forfeits to the state if the purchaser and successors in interest
fail to execute an effective permit.
History: (6394-16) 1925 c 276 s 16; 1961 c 202 s 13; 1967 c 110 s 2; 1986 c 444; 1987 c
109 s 7; 2000 c 485 s 3; 2003 c 73 s 4; 2004 c 241 s 7; 2006 c 281 art 3 s 10