In Crow Wing County there is a rather high incidence of property reverting to the county under tax forfeit laws. If taxes aren’t paid for a period of time state law provides that the owner, in essence, has abandoned his ownership. The county then takes jurisdiction and ownership of the property.
Once this occurs the county designates the property as “Conservation” meaning it is conserved for a period of time. The jurisdiction where the property is located is given the opportunity to review the properties prior to a change in status to “Non-Conservation” which means they can then sell the property. The city, with their review, can maintain the property as Conservation. The governing body would need to say they are interested in the property. The county has the option to deed the property to the local jurisdiction if there is a public purpose at no cost. This is done with a deed restriction limiting the use of the property. The county also has the option to sell the property outright.
For number of years Crow Wing County had allowed cities to acquire properties for public purposes at no cost. This became a problem with the amount of property that had to be accounted for and the various designated public purposes. Trying to manage these with enforcement became overwhelming. Cities started with good intentions and generally fulfilled those obligations but there were some of these properties that, over time, had shifted in use. Doing so negates the agreement for the property. When this happens the property can revert back to the county for disposition. The resources needed to manage enforcement became a problem.
Crow Wing County determined that, regardless of buyer, the property would be sold at a fair market price. The city could reserve the property for a period of time but would have to eventually purchase it. Funds for purchase of tax forfeited property go to the county. A portion of the sale price is paid to the local jurisdiction.
The properties the county is changing to Non-Conservation are reviewed by the city on an annual basis. One property that was felt desirable this year was considered for drainage. The City Council considered the purchase and determined the need wasn’t strong enough to justify the expense. So for this go around, the city won’t be acquiring any tax forfeited properties and hope the land returns to the tax roles for development.
