1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to taxation; requiring payment equivalent to 
  1.3             property tax by the commissioner of natural resources 
  1.4             on certain state land in counties having a reduced tax 
  1.5             base due to acreage in state ownership; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 477A.12; proposing 
  1.7             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 84. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [84.028] [CONDITIONS ON LAND ACQUISITION.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL RULE.] (a) If the commissioner of 
  1.11  natural resources acquires land in a county that has 50 percent 
  1.12  or more of its acreage in public ownership, the commissioner, at 
  1.13  the request of the county, shall: 
  1.14     (1) offer to sell state land in the county that is of at 
  1.15  least equal value as the land acquired; 
  1.16     (2) recommend to the land exchange board under section 
  1.17  94.341 a qualified transfer to the county of other state-owned 
  1.18  property in the county that is of at least equal value as the 
  1.19  land acquired; or 
  1.20     (3) annually pay an amount that is equivalent to a 
  1.21  nonhomestead property tax on the property. 
  1.22     (b) The land exchange board shall review a recommendation 
  1.23  under paragraph (a), clause (2), and consider the state's policy 
  1.24  to be that the percentage of publicly owned land should not be 
  1.25  increased in counties where 50 percent or more of the land is 
  1.26  publicly owned.  If the land exchange board does not approve a 
  2.1   transfer, the commissioner must comply with paragraph (a), 
  2.2   clause (1) or (3). 
  2.3      Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION; EXEMPTIONS.] (a) This section 
  2.4   applies to purchases, gifts, and eminent domain acquisitions of 
  2.5   property by the commissioner. 
  2.6      (b) This section does not apply if: 
  2.7      (1) the acquired property was not subject to ad valorem 
  2.8   property taxation at any time within the three calendar years 
  2.9   before the purchase; 
  2.10     (2) the acquisition was made through tax forfeiture; or 
  2.11     (3) the acquisition resulted from a foreclosure or sale 
  2.12  under a tax lien or another security interest of the state 
  2.13  obtained by legal process other than a voluntary transfer by the 
  2.14  landowner or eminent domain. 
  2.15     Subd. 3.  [QUALIFIED TRANSFER.] (a) A qualified transfer 
  2.16  under subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (2), means a transfer 
  2.17  to the county by the commissioner of other real property that 
  2.18  meets all of the following: 
  2.19     (1) the property transferred has a value for ad valorem 
  2.20  property tax purposes at least equal to the property to be 
  2.21  acquired by the commissioner; 
  2.22     (2) the property transferred was exempt from ad valorem 
  2.23  taxation for the three calendar years before the transfer; 
  2.24     (3) the property is located in the same county as the 
  2.25  property to be acquired by the commissioner; and 
  2.26     (4) there is a reasonable prospect that the transferred 
  2.27  property will be subject to ad valorem taxation after the 
  2.28  transfer. 
  2.29     (b) After approval of the qualified transfer by the land 
  2.30  exchange board and transfer of the property to the county, the 
  2.31  county must then proceed to offer the property for sale to 
  2.32  potential property taxpayers.  If a parcel offered for sale 
  2.33  under this section is not sold within two years of the transfer 
  2.34  from the commissioner, the county may derive income from the 
  2.35  transferred property in the same way as otherwise provided by 
  2.36  law for counties to derive income from tax-forfeited property, 
  3.1   but shall continue to attempt to sell the property to a taxable 
  3.2   entity.  The county must remit to the commissioner all net 
  3.3   proceeds from a sale of the land or from net income derived from 
  3.4   holding the property.  The proceeds shall be deposited in the 
  3.5   land acquisition account created in section 94.165. 
  3.6      Subd. 4.  [COUNTY MAY WAIVE.] The governing body of the 
  3.7   county in which the property is located may waive, by 
  3.8   resolution, the application of this section. 
  3.9      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 477A.12, is 
  3.10  amended to read: 
  3.11     477A.12 [ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS; LANDS ELIGIBLE; 
  3.12  CERTIFICATION OF ACREAGE.] 
  3.13     (a) As an offset for expenses incurred by counties and 
  3.14  towns in support of natural resources lands, the following 
  3.15  amounts are annually appropriated to the commissioner of natural 
  3.16  resources from the general fund for transfer to the commissioner 
  3.17  of revenue.  The commissioner of revenue shall pay the 
  3.18  transferred funds to counties as required by sections 477A.11 to 
  3.19  477A.145.  The amounts are: 
  3.20     (1) for acquired natural resources land, $3, as adjusted 
  3.21  for inflation under section 477A.145, multiplied by the total 
  3.22  number of acres of acquired natural resources land or, at the 
  3.23  county's option three-fourths of one percent of the appraised 
  3.24  value of all acquired natural resources land in the county, 
  3.25  whichever is greater; 
  3.26     (2) 75 cents, as adjusted for inflation under section 
  3.27  477A.145, multiplied by the number of acres of 
  3.28  county-administered other natural resources land; and 
  3.29     (3) 37.5 cents, as adjusted for inflation under section 
  3.30  477A.145, multiplied by the number of acres of 
  3.31  commissioner-administered other natural resources land located 
  3.32  in each county as of July 1 of each year prior to the payment 
  3.33  year. 
  3.34     (b) Lands for which payments in lieu are made pursuant to 
  3.35  section 97A.061, subdivision 3, and Laws 1973, chapter 567, and 
  3.36  lands for which payments are made under section 84.028, 
  4.1   subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (3), shall not be eligible 
  4.2   for payments under this section.  Each county auditor shall 
  4.3   certify to the department of natural resources during July of 
  4.4   each year prior to the payment year the number of acres of 
  4.5   county-administered other natural resources land within the 
  4.6   county.  The department of natural resources may, in addition to 
  4.7   the certification of acreage, require descriptive lists of land 
  4.8   so certified.  The commissioner of natural resources shall 
  4.9   determine and certify to the commissioner of revenue by March 1 
  4.10  of the payment year:  
  4.11     (1) the number of acres and most recent appraised value of 
  4.12  acquired natural resources land within each county; 
  4.13     (2) the number of acres of commissioner-administered 
  4.14  natural resources land within each county; and 
  4.15     (3) the number of acres of county-administered other 
  4.16  natural resources land within each county, based on the reports 
  4.17  filed by each county auditor with the commissioner of natural 
  4.18  resources. 
  4.19     The commissioner of revenue shall determine the 
  4.20  distributions provided for in this section using the number of 
  4.21  acres and appraised values certified by the commissioner of 
  4.22  natural resources by March 1 of the payment year. 
  4.23     (c) For the purposes of this section, the appraised value 
  4.24  of acquired natural resources land is the purchase price for the 
  4.25  first five years after acquisition.  The appraised value of 
  4.26  acquired natural resources land received as a donation is the 
  4.27  value determined for the commissioner of natural resources by a 
  4.28  licensed appraiser, or the county assessor's estimated market 
  4.29  value if no appraisal is done.  The appraised value must be 
  4.30  determined by the county assessor every five years after the 
  4.31  land is acquired.