SSB 1155 (LSB 1634XC (2) 90)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DAWSON)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the minimum percentage of a parcel designated by a purchaser at tax sale and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 446.16, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The person who offers to pay the total amount due, which is a lien on any parcel, for the smallest percentage of the parcel is the purchaser, and when the purchaser designates the percentage of any parcel for which the purchaser will pay the total amount due, the percentage thus designated shall give the person an undivided interest upon the issuance of a treasurer’s deed, as provided in chapter 448. If two or more persons have placed an equal bid and the bids are the smallest percentage offered, the county treasurer shall use a random selection process to select the bidder to whom a certificate of purchase will be issued. The percentage that may be designated by any purchaser under this subsection shall not be less than one fifty-one percent.
    Sec. 2.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies July 1, 2023, for tax sales held on or after that date.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   At the annual tax sale held by the county treasurer under Code chapter 446, parcels on which taxes are delinquent are offered at public sale, unless the parcel is subject to a pending action. The person who offers to pay the total amount due for the smallest percentage of the parcel is the purchaser. If two or more persons have placed an equal bid and the bids are the smallest percentage offered, the county treasurer shall use a random selection process to select the bidder to whom a certificate of purchase will be issued. The percentage that may be designated by any purchaser under current law shall not be less than 1 percent. This bill changes that percentage to 51 percent.
   The bill applies to tax sales held on or after July 1, 2023.