Bill Text: DE HB312 | 2015-2016 | 148th General Assembly | Draft

Delaware House Bill 312 (Prior Session Legislation)

Draft

Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 17 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Acquisition And Sale Of Real Property.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2016-05-25 - Signed by Governor [HB312 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2015-HB312-Draft.html

SPONSOR:	Rep. Osienski & Sen. Peterson
	Reps. Briggs King, Keeley, Mitchell, Potter, Ramone, D. Short, Viola, Wilson; Sens. Ennis, Lavelle

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 312

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 17 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ACQUISITION AND SALE OF REAL PROPERTY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend §137(b), Title 17 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:

§137. Acquisition and sale of real property.

(b) When any property heretofore or hereafter acquired by the Department by gift, devise, purchase or condemnation is no longer needed for transportation purposes the Department shall attempt to dispose of the property as follows:

(3) If the provisions of paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section have been satisfied without sale, the Department shall determine if the property has independent utility and in such cases shall offer the property for sale to the general public at a public auction sale. The Department shall notify the public of the sale by posting a "Notice of Sale" on the property at least 2 weeks before the sale and by publishing a "Notice of Sale" for at least 1 day a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the county where the property is located. The "Notice of Sale" shall describe the property to be sold, state the date, time, location of the sale, terms and conditions, and amount of the minimum acceptable bid. The public sale may be conducted by Department personnel or the Department may retain an outside contractor to handle the sale. At the conclusion of the sale, the Department's representative shall announce the name of the highest bidder and the amount of the bid. The Department's representative shall record the results of the sale including the name and amount of the next highest bid. The Department shall have the authority to accept or reject the highest bid as long as such bid is equal to or greater than 85 percent of the approved appraised value. The Department shall offer the property for sale at a price not less than 85 percent of the approved appraised value and shall reject any bid of a lesser amount. The Department may reject any bid for due cause. If the sale is confirmed and the highest bidder defaults, the Department may proceed to the next highest acceptable bidder. In the event that the Department does not receive an acceptable bid, the public sale shall be deemed concluded and the Department may proceed to market the property for sale in the open market for a price not less than 85 percent of the approved appraised value. In the event the property is not sold within 12 months of placing it for sale on the open market, then The. The Department may proceed to dispose of the property through absolute auction for whatever price can be obtained, subject, however, to unanimous written approval of the selling price from the Controller General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(11) The Department shall provide to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before ~~December~~ March 31 of each year, a report identifying by size and location all properties being held for projects, properties deemed surplus or excess properties, dates of acquisition, purchase price, previous owner, date the property was determined to be excess and/or surplus, dates and nature of actions undertaken to dispose of such surplus/excess properties and approximate fair market value of each. If properties are deemed nonmarketable they shall be identified as such. The report shall further identify all properties disposed of during the previous year by size and location, date of disposition, appraised value if appraised, amount received from disposition and name of the purchaser(s) or owners, including, but not limited to, equitable owners.

SYNOPSIS

This Act updates the Delaware Department of Transportation's process for disposing of excess land by removing the 12-month marketing requirement before real property can be disposed of at absolute auction.This Act also changes the date for the Department's annual real property report from December 31^st to March 31^st to allow more time to compile the information.