HSB 519 (LSB 5361DP (2) 90)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to notice of agency sales of unused highway right-of-way.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 306.23, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The agency in control of a tract, parcel, or piece of land, or part thereof, which is unused right-of-way shall send by certified mail to the last known address of the present owner of adjacent land from which the tract, parcel, piece of land, or part thereof, was originally purchased or condemned for highway purposes, and to the person who owned the land at the time it was purchased or condemned for highway purposes, notice of the agency’s intent to sell the land, the name and address of any other person to whom a notice was sent, and the fair market value of the real property based upon an one of the following:
   a.  An appraisal by an independent appraiser.
   b.  A comparable sales market analysis if the agency is the department, the sale is not a contract sale under section 306.22, subsection 2, and the determined fair market value is fifty thousand dollars or less.
    Sec. 2.  Section 306.23, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  Notice required under subsection 1 shall be hand-delivered or sent by verified mail, as defined in section 578A.2. Hand-delivered notice is deemed delivered when the recipient signs an acknowledgment of delivery. Notice sent by verified mail is deemed delivered when the notice is deposited with the United States postal service or private delivery service, and such notice is properly addressed with postage prepaid.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Current law authorizes an agency in control of unused highway right-of-way to sell the land. If the agency does so, the agency is required to send notice of the agency’s intent to sell the land to the last known address of the present owner of adjacent land from which the land was originally purchased or condemned for highway purposes, and to the person who owned the land at the time it was purchased or condemned for highway purposes. The notice must include the name and address of any other person to whom a notice was sent, and the fair market value of the real property based upon an appraisal by an independent appraiser. The agency must send such notice by certified mail.
   This bill strikes the certified mail requirement, and instead authorizes required notice to be hand-delivered or sent by verified mail. Hand-delivered notice is deemed delivered when the recipient signs an acknowledgment of delivery, while notice sent by verified mail is deemed delivered when the notice is deposited with the United States postal service (USPS) or private delivery service, and such notice is properly addressed with postage prepaid. As used in the bill, “verified mail” means any method of mailing offered by USPS or private delivery service that provides evidence of the mailing.
   The bill authorizes the department of transportation (DOT) to provide in the notice a fair market value based on a comparable sales market analysis rather than an appraisal by an independent appraiser if the DOT does not contract for the sale of the land in accordance with Code section 306.22(2), and the determined fair market value is $50,000 or less.