Senate Bill No. 657
(By Senators Helmick and Barnes)
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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Agriculture; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §19-21A-15, relating
to the sale of property by the State Conservation Committee
and conservation districts; requiring that when selling
property they first offer it to the abutting land owner if the
owner is the person from whom the property was acquired or the
person's surviving spouse or descendant; providing method of
establishing sale price; and requiring certain sales be held
at public auction.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §19-21A-15, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 21A. CONSERVATION DISTRICTS.
19-21A-15. Sale, exchange, or lease of real property.
(a) The State Conservation Committee and a conservation
district organized under this article, subject to the provisions of
this section, may sell the real property held by the committee or
the district that it determines is not necessary and no longer
required for the purpose it was acquired under this article.
(b) The committee or district shall first offer to sell the
real property to an abutting land owner if the principal abutting
landowner is an individual from whom the real estate was acquired
or his or her surviving spouse or descendant. In order to qualify,
the surviving spouse or descendant need not be a beneficiary of the
person. The terms used in this subdivision are as defined in
section one, article one, chapter forty-two of this code. The
committee or the district shall offer the property for sale to the
qualified person or persons at a cost, at least, equal to the
amount paid by the committee or a district for the real estate. If
improvements on the property have been removed since the time of
the acquisition, the cost shall be reduced by an amount
attributable to the value of the improvements removed. The cost
may be adjusted to reflect interest at a rate equal to the increase
in the consumer price index for all urban consumers as reported by
the United States Department of Labor since the time of
disbursement of the funds, not to exceed the rate of two percent
per year.
(c) If the property is not transferred pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, then the sale of the real property, or any
interest or right in the property or structure on the property,
shall be at public auction in the county in which the real
property, or the greater part of the property, is located, and the
committee or the district shall advertise, by publication or
otherwise, the time, place, and terms of the sale at least twenty
days prior to the sale. The property shall be sold in the manner
which will bring the highest and best price. The committee or the
district may reject any or all bids received at the sale. The
committee or the district shall keep a record, open to public
inspection, indicating the manner in which the real property, or
any interest or right in the property or structure on the property,
was publicly advertised for sale, the highest bid received and from
whom, the person to whom sold, and payment received. The record
shall be kept for a period of five years and may be destroyed after
five years.
(d) The committee or the district may insert in any deed or
conveyance, whether it involves an exchange, lease or sale, the
conditions as are in the public interest.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
require the State
Conservation Committee and conservation districts when selling
property to first offer the property to an abutting land owner if
the owner is the person from whom the property was acquired or the
person's surviving spouse or descendant. It requires sales to other
persons to be held at public auction.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.