Bill Text: IA SF590 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the creation of land banks.(Formerly SF 100.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-23 - Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 384. [SF590 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2021-SF590-Introduced.html

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Senate File 590 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 590
BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
(SUCCESSOR TO SF 100)
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to the creation of land banks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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DIVISION I
LAND BANKS
Section 1. NEW SECTION . 358A.1 Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Iowa
Land Bank Act” .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 358A.2 Legislative intent.
The general assembly finds and declares all of the
following:
1. Iowa’s communities are important to the social and
economic vitality of this state. Whether urban, suburban,
or rural, many communities are struggling with dilapidated,
abandoned, blighted, and tax-delinquent properties.
2. Citizens of Iowa are affected adversely by dilapidated,
abandoned, blighted, and tax-delinquent properties,
including properties that have been abandoned due to mortgage
foreclosure.
3. Dilapidated, abandoned, blighted, and tax-delinquent
properties impose significant costs on neighborhoods and
communities by lowering property values, increasing fire
and police protection costs, decreasing tax revenues, and
undermining community cohesion.
4. There is an overwhelming public need to confront the
problems caused by dilapidated, abandoned, blighted, and
tax-delinquent properties; to return properties that are in
non-revenue-generating, non-tax-producing status to productive
status in order to revitalize urban, suburban, and rural
areas, provide affordable housing, and attract new industry;
and to create jobs for the citizens of this state through the
establishment of new tools that enable communities to turn
abandoned spaces into vibrant places.
5. Land banks are one of the tools that communities can use
to facilitate the return of dilapidated, abandoned, blighted,
and tax-delinquent properties to productive use.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 358A.3 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
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requires:
1. “Abandoned” means a parcel is vacant or a building on
a parcel has remained vacant for a period of at least six
consecutive months and is in need of rehabilitation.
2. “Blighted” means a vacant parcel or a parcel containing
a building is unsafe with objectively determinable signs of
deterioration sufficient to constitute a threat to human
health, safety, and welfare.
3. “Board” means the board of directors of a land bank.
4. “Dilapidated” means a parcel containing a building is in
a state of deterioration as a result of age or neglect.
5. “Geographical boundaries of the land bank” means the
jurisdiction of the municipality that created the land bank
or in the case of any combination of municipalities creating
a single land bank or joining an existing land bank, the
combined jurisdictions of the municipalities. In the case of a
land bank created by a county, such land bank’s jurisdiction
includes only the area of the county not included within an
incorporated city.
6. “Land bank” means an entity created under section 358A.4.
7. “Local employee” means a person employed by a
municipality of this state and does not include an independent
contractor.
8. “Local official” means an officeholder of a municipality
of this state.
9. “Municipality” means a city, county, or township.
10. “Rehabilitation” means the action of restoring to its
former condition something that has deteriorated or has been
damaged.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 358A.4 Creation.
1. A land bank organized under this chapter shall be a
body corporate and politic, with the name under which it was
organized, and may sue and be sued in its own name, contract
and be contracted with, acquire and hold real and personal
property necessary for corporate purposes, adopt a corporate
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seal and alter the same at pleasure, and exercise all the
powers conferred in this chapter.
2. a. Any municipality may create a land bank. Creation
shall be by ordinance in the case of a city or by resolution in
the case of a county or township. The ordinance or resolution
shall make reference to the purposes listed under section
358A.2.
b. Any municipality may create a land bank in combination
with one or more other municipalities. Municipalities seeking
to create such a land bank shall comply with the procedures set
forth in chapter 28E. A land bank shall be considered a public
agency for the purposes of chapters 28E and 28H.
c. (1) Any city or township passing an ordinance or a
resolution or entering into a chapter 28E agreement creating
a land bank pursuant to this section shall promptly deliver
copies of the ordinance, resolution, or agreement to the
auditor, treasurer, and the county attorney of each county in
which the municipality is situated.
(2) Any board of supervisors adopting a resolution or
entering into a chapter 28E agreement creating a land bank
pursuant to this section shall deliver a copy of the resolution
or agreement to the county auditor, county treasurer, and
county attorney.
3. a. The enabling ordinance or resolution, or chapter
28E agreement, shall set forth any restrictions or required
procedures that exceed those set forth in this chapter.
b. A chapter 28E agreement relating to a land bank shall
include procedures for the distribution of assets between
participating municipalities upon the dissolution of the land
bank.
c. Unless otherwise limited in the ordinance, resolution,
or chapter 28E agreement, the powers and procedures of a newly
created land bank shall be the powers and procedures specified
in this chapter.
4. A council of governments established in section 28H.1
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shall not form a land bank. However, pursuant to a chapter
28E agreement, a council of governments may provide community
development services, planning services, and technical
assistance to a land bank.
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 358A.5 Board of directors.
1. a. A land bank shall have a board of directors in which
all powers of the land bank shall be vested.
b. Unless restricted by the enabling ordinance, resolution,
or agreement as specified in section 358A.4, the provisions of
this section shall apply to the governance of a land bank.
2. The membership of the board shall be established in the
bylaws of the land bank.
3. a. A local official may serve as a board member, and
service as a board member shall neither terminate nor impair
the local official’s office.
b. A local employee shall be eligible to serve as a board
member.
4. Board members shall serve without compensation.
However, the board may reimburse a member for expenses actually
incurred in the performance of duties on behalf of the land
bank as provided in bylaws adopted pursuant to subsection 5.
5. a. Upon creation by the enabling ordinance, resolution,
or agreement as specified in section 358A.4, the board shall
adopt bylaws addressing matters necessary to govern the conduct
of the land bank and shall meet as the bylaws prescribe.
b. When in actual conflict, the ordinances, resolutions, or
agreements described in section 358A.4 shall control over any
bylaws adopted by the board.
6. Except as set forth in the enabling ordinance,
resolution, or agreement, or as set forth by a land bank in
its bylaws, an action of the board must be approved by the
affirmative vote of a majority of the board present and voting.
7. Members of the board shall not be liable personally on
the obligations of the land bank, and rights of creditors of a
land bank shall be solely against the land bank.
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Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 358A.6 Staff.
1. A land bank may employ or contract for the employment of
any persons the land bank may require to fulfill the objectives
of its bylaws and this chapter.
2. An employee of the land bank is not and shall not be
deemed to be an employee of the municipality for whose benefit
the land bank is organized solely because the employee is
employed by the land bank.
3. A land bank is an employer as defined in section 97B.1A,
subsection 9, paragraph “a” , and an employee of the land bank is
an employee as defined in section 97B.1A, subsection 8.
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 358A.7 Powers.
1. In furtherance of the purposes set forth in section
358A.2, a land bank shall have the power to perform all actions
necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes set forth in
this chapter, including but not limited to all of the following
powers:
a. To borrow money for any of the purposes of the land bank
by means of loans, lines of credit, or any other financial
instruments or securities other than through the issuance
of bonds, debentures, or notes. A land bank may secure its
indebtedness by mortgage, pledge, deed of trust, or other lien
on its property, franchises, rights, and privileges of every
kind and nature or any part thereof or interest therein. The
funds borrowed by the land bank are payable as to principal,
interest, and any other amounts owed the lender solely from
the proceeds from the net revenues of the land bank and are
not a debt of or charge against any of the municipalities that
formed the land bank within the meaning of any constitutional
or statutory debt limitation provision. For purposes of this
subsection:
(1) “Gross revenues” means the income and receipts of the
land bank from any source whatsoever, including but not limited
to contributions from private parties or member municipalities,
sale or lease of rehabilitated properties, and collection of a
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portion of the property taxes during the five-year period after
sale or lease of the rehabilitated property.
(2) “Net revenues” means the gross revenues of the land bank
less the land bank’s operating expenses.
b. To petition for abatement pursuant to chapter 657A.
A land bank is an “interested person” for purposes of that
chapter.
c. To contract with the federal government, the state,
a subdivision of the state, and any other party, whether
nonprofit or for-profit.
2. The powers enumerated in this chapter shall not be
construed to limit the general powers of a land bank or a
municipality. The powers granted under this chapter are in
addition to the powers granted by any other section of the
Code, but as to a land bank, shall be used only for the purposes
set forth in section 358A.2.
Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 358A.8 Eminent domain.
A land bank shall not possess or exercise the power of
eminent domain, including under chapters 6A and 6B.
Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 358A.9 Acquisition of property.
1. a. Except as provided in section 358A.8, a land bank may
acquire, hold, own, accept, and otherwise obtain real property
or interests in real property by gift, devise, transfer,
exchange, foreclosure, purchase, or otherwise, on terms and
conditions and in a manner the board considers is in the best
interest of the land bank and consistent with the purposes set
forth in section 358A.2 and the land bank’s bylaws.
b. A land bank may acquire tax sale certificates at a tax
sale conducted under chapter 446 and may subsequently acquire
title through tax lien foreclosure procedures. A land bank
shall not be considered a city or county for purposes of
bidding on and acquiring tax sale certificates under chapter
446, redeeming property under chapter 447, or obtaining a tax
sale deed under chapter 448.
c. The acquisition of property by the land bank shall not
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be governed or controlled by any regulations or laws relating
to procurement or acquisition of property of any municipality
that created the land bank, unless specifically provided in the
ordinance, resolution, or chapter 28E agreement establishing
the land bank.
d. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph “e” , a land
bank shall not own or hold real property located outside the
geographical boundaries of the land bank.
e. A land bank may be granted, pursuant to an
intergovernmental contract with a political subdivision of
this state, the authority to manage and maintain real property
located within the geographical boundaries of the political
subdivision, but outside the geographical boundaries of the
land bank. If a land bank receives a gift or devise of real
property located outside of the geographical boundaries of the
land bank, the land bank shall dispose of such property by sale
or exchange as soon as reasonably practicable.
2. A land bank shall maintain all of its real property in
accordance with the laws and ordinances of the jurisdiction in
which the real property is located.
3. A land bank shall maintain and make available for public
review and inspection an inventory of all real property held
by the land bank.
Sec. 10. NEW SECTION . 358A.10 Disposition of property.
1. A land bank may convey, exchange, sell, transfer, lease,
grant, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of interests in real
property of the land bank at such times, to such persons, upon
such terms and conditions, and subject to such restrictions and
covenants as the land bank deems necessary or appropriate to
assure the effective use of the land bank in accordance with
the purposes of section 358A.2 and consistent with the land
bank’s bylaws.
2. A land bank shall determine the amount and form of
consideration necessary to convey, exchange, sell, transfer,
lease, grant, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of interests in
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real property. Consideration may take the form of monetary
payments and secured financial obligations, covenants and
conditions related to the present and future use of the
property, contractual commitments by the transferee, and other
forms of consideration as determined by the board to be in the
best interest of the land bank and consistent with its bylaws.
3. A municipality may in the ordinance or resolution
creating a land bank, or in the chapter 28E agreement in the
case of any combination of municipalities creating a single
land bank, require that a particular form of disposition of
real property or a disposition of real property located within
a specified jurisdiction be subject to specified voting and
approval requirements of the board.
Sec. 11. NEW SECTION . 358A.11 Financing.
1. A land bank may receive funding through grants, loans,
and other moneys from the municipality that created the land
bank, from other municipalities, from the state, from the
federal government, and from any other public and private
sources, including but not limited to donations, gifts, or
bequests.
2. A land bank may receive and retain payments for services
rendered, for rents and leasehold payments received, for
consideration for disposition of real and personal property,
for proceeds of insurance coverage for losses incurred, for
income from investments, and for any other asset and activity
lawfully permitted to a land bank under this chapter.
3. Up to seventy-five percent of the real property taxes
remaining after the division of taxes pursuant to section
403.19, if applicable, and exclusive of any amount levied by a
school district, collected on real property that a land bank
has conveyed or leased to a third party shall be remitted
to the land bank. The allocation of property tax revenues
shall commence with property taxes payable on the assessed
value of the property determined on the first assessment year
beginning January 1 following the date of conveyance or lease
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by the land bank and shall be allocated for a period of up
to five consecutive years. The specific percentage of the
taxes to be remitted, if any, and the number of consecutive
years to allocate the taxes shall be established by the
municipality creating the land bank in accordance with this
section and shall be set forth in the enabling ordinance,
resolution, or chapter 28E agreement creating the land bank.
Each municipality may, in the enabling ordinance, resolution,
or chapter 28E agreement creating the land bank, include the
right of the municipality to waive or amend by resolution, and
on a project-specific basis, the percentage of real estate
taxes to be remitted to the land bank for a specific property
and the number of consecutive years of tax allocation for a
specific property. The land bank shall give the treasurer in
the county where the property is located written notice of the
date of the sale or lease of any property for which the land
bank claims a real property tax payment under this subsection.
The notice shall identify the property by local tax parcel
number, address, and legal description and include a copy of
the ordinance, resolution, or chapter 28E agreement setting
forth the portion of such taxes allocable to the land bank
under this subsection. Upon receipt of the taxes from such
property, the treasurer shall pay the land bank its share of
the taxes paid on such property for the applicable number of
consecutive years.
Sec. 12. NEW SECTION . 358A.12 Delinquent property tax
enforcement.
1. Whenever a land bank acquires real property encumbered
by a lien or claim for real property taxes owed to one or
more of the municipalities that established the land bank,
or to other political subdivisions that have entered into
an intergovernmental contract with the land bank, the land
bank may request, by resolution of the board or as otherwise
provided in its bylaws, that the county in which the property
is located discharge and extinguish any and all of the liens
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or claims. If a portion of the real property taxes are
attributable to property taxes certified for levy by a school
district, the land bank shall notify the school district in
writing of its intent to extinguish all such liens and claims.
If the school district sends a written objection to the
proposed extinguishment of such liens and claims to the land
bank within thirty days of receipt of such notice, the land
bank shall not attempt to extinguish the liens and claims. If
the school district fails to send a written objection to the
proposed extinguishment to the land bank within thirty days of
receipt of such notice from the land bank, the county in which
the land bank is located shall have the power, by resolution of
the board, to discharge and extinguish any and all such liens
or claims.
2. If a land bank receives payments of any kind attributable
to liens or claims for real property taxes owed or allocated to
a municipality, public utility, or school district on property
acquired by the land bank, the land bank shall remit the full
amount of the payments to the appropriate taxing entity.
Sec. 13. NEW SECTION . 358A.13 Exemption from taxation.
The income and operations of a land bank are exempt from
taxation by the state and by any political subdivision of the
state.
Sec. 14. NEW SECTION . 358A.14 Public records and public
meetings.
A land bank is a “governmental body” for purposes of chapter
21 and a “government body” for the purposes of chapter 22. A
land bank shall comply with all public meeting requirements
under chapter 21 and all public records requirements under
chapter 22.
Sec. 15. NEW SECTION . 358A.15 Reports.
A land bank shall submit to the governing body of the
municipality that created the land bank an annual report that
informs the municipality of the land bank’s activities for the
previous year.
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Sec. 16. NEW SECTION . 358A.16 Audits.
A land bank is a “governmental subdivision” for the purposes
of chapter 11. A land bank shall be subject to periodic
examination by the auditor of state.
Sec. 17. NEW SECTION . 358A.17 Dissolution of land banks.
1. A land bank may be dissolved in accordance with its
bylaws. Upon dissolution of the land bank, all liabilities,
real property, personal property, and other assets of the
land bank shall become the liabilities and assets of the
municipality that created the land bank, or, in the case of a
land bank created pursuant to a chapter 28E agreement, shall be
distributed pursuant to the chapter 28E agreement.
2. A municipality may withdraw from a land bank if the land
bank was created pursuant to a chapter 28E agreement. The
withdrawing municipality shall receive its share of assets and
liabilities as determined in the chapter 28E agreement. A land
bank consisting of two or more municipalities does not dissolve
upon the withdrawal of a single municipality.
Sec. 18. NEW SECTION . 358A.18 Conflicts of interest.
1. For purposes of this section, “family member” means a
person who is a spouse, domestic partner, child, step-child,
grandchild, parent, step-parent, grandparent, sibling, niece,
nephew, uncle, aunt, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law,
or daughter-in-law of a member of the board or an employee of a
land bank. “Family member” includes a person who is a family
member through adoption.
2. A member of the board, employee of a land bank, or family
member of a member of the board or an employee of the land
bank shall not acquire any direct or indirect interest in real
property of the land bank or in any property to be acquired
from the land bank, or have or acquire any direct or indirect
interest in any real property to be acquired by a land bank.
A land bank shall not acquire any real property from a board
member, employee of the land bank, or family member of a board
member or employee of the land bank.
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3. Members of the board and employees of the land bank shall
disclose to the board any direct or indirect ownership interest
such person or a family member of such person has in any
property to be acquired by the land bank or located within one
thousand feet of any property that the land bank is considering
acquiring before the land bank takes any action to acquire such
property. A member of the board who is required to make such
disclosure shall not participate in the decision to approve the
acquisition of such property.
4. A member of the board, employee of a land bank, or family
member of a member of the board or an employee of the land
bank may have a direct or indirect interest in any contract
or proposed contract for material or services to be furnished
to or used by a land bank only upon all of the following
conditions:
a. The member of the board or employee of the land bank
discloses the material facts of such transaction and the nature
of such interest to the board before the board acts to approve
such contract and, if the person is a board member, does not
participate in the discussion or vote to consider approval of
such contract.
b. Such contract is approved by a majority of the members
of the board who have no direct or indirect interest in such
contract and whose family members have no direct or indirect
interest in such contract.
c. Such contract is fair at the time the contract is
approved.
5. a. Any person who serves or is employed by a land bank
shall not engage in any of the following conduct:
(1) Outside employment or an activity that involves the use
of the land bank’s time, facilities, equipment, and supplies
or the use of evidences of office or employment to give the
person, an entity affiliated with or controlled by the person,
or a family member of the person an advantage or pecuniary
benefit that is not available to other similarly situated
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members or classes of members of the general public. For
purposes of this subparagraph, a person is not “similarly
situated” merely by being, or being related to, a person who
serves or is employed by the land bank.
(2) Outside employment or an activity that involves the
receipt of, promise of, or acceptance of money or other
consideration by the person, an entity affiliated with or
controlled by the person, or a family member of the person from
anyone other than the land bank for the performance of any act
that the person would be required or expected to perform as a
part of the person’s regular duties or during the hours during
which the person performs service or work for the land bank.
(3) Outside employment or an activity that is subject to
the official control, inspection, review, audit, or enforcement
authority of the person, during the performance of the person’s
duties of office or employment.
b. If the outside employment or activity is employment or
activity described in paragraph “a” , subparagraph (1) or (2),
the person shall immediately cease the employment or activity.
If the outside employment or activity is employment or activity
described in paragraph “a” , subparagraph (3), unless otherwise
provided by law, the person shall take one of the following
courses of action:
(1) Cease the outside employment or activity.
(2) Publicly disclose the existence of the conflict and
refrain from taking any official action or performing any
official duty that would detrimentally affect or create a
benefit for the outside employment or activity. For purposes
of this subparagraph, “official action” or “official duty”
includes but is not limited to participating in any vote,
taking affirmative action to influence any vote, granting any
license or permit, determining the facts or law in a contested
case or rulemaking proceeding, conducting any inspection, or
providing any other official service or thing that is not
available generally to members of the public in order to
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further the interests of the outside employment or activity.
6. Unless otherwise specifically provided, the requirements
of this section shall be in addition to, and shall not
supersede, any other rights or remedies provided by law.
DIVISION II
LAND BANK TAX SALE COORDINATING PROVISIONS
Sec. 19. Section 446.16, subsection 2, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
2. The treasurer may establish and collect a reasonable
registration fee from each registered bidder at the tax
sale. The fee shall not be assessed against a county , or
municipality , or land bank created under chapter 358A . The
total of the fees collected shall not exceed the total costs of
the tax sale. Registration fees collected shall be deposited
in the general fund of the county.
Sec. 20. NEW SECTION . 446.19C Land bank tax sale.
1. A land bank has the exclusive bidder’s right to purchase
tax sale certificates offered at the treasurer’s annual tax
sale with respect to tax delinquent parcels located within the
geographical boundaries of the land bank that are dilapidated,
abandoned, or blighted and that are suitable for housing or
commercial use following rehabilitation.
2. To qualify for the exclusive bidder’s right to purchase
tax sale certificates under this section, a land bank must
file a verified statement with the treasurer on or before May
15. The land bank is responsible for obtaining information
from the treasurer as needed to accurately identify tax parcel
numbers and total amounts due. The land bank shall provide the
treasurer with the federal tax identification number of the
land bank, but such information is not required to be shown on
the verified statement. The verified statement shall include
all of the following:
a. The name, address, telephone number, and electronic mail
address of the land bank.
b. A statement that the land bank is exercising its right to
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purchase each identified parcel pursuant to this section.
c. Specific identification of each parcel by the parcel’s
official county tax parcel number.
d. With respect to each identified parcel, a statement that
the parcel is dilapidated, abandoned, or blighted and that the
parcel is suitable for housing or commercial use following
rehabilitation.
e. The total amount due for each identified parcel computed
to the date of the tax sale.
3. In addition to the verified statement, the land bank
shall submit payment to the treasurer of an amount equal to
the total amount due cumulatively for all of the parcels
identified in the verified statement. The filing of the
verified statement by a land bank accompanied by payment of the
total amount due for all identified parcels shall constitute
the registration by the land bank as a bidder at the tax sale.
The land bank shall not be required to pay a registration fee.
4. The land bank’s verified statement shall be published at
the same time and in the same manner as the notice of the annual
tax sale, and the requirements in section 446.9, subsection 2,
for publication of notice of the annual tax sale also apply to
publication of the verified statement.
5. Upon timely receipt of the verified statement and
payment of the total amount due cumulatively for all identified
parcels, the treasurer shall remove all of the identified
parcels from the regular annual tax sale and place those
parcels in a separate sale known as the “land bank tax sale”.
On the day of the regular tax sale, the treasurer shall issue
and deliver tax sale certificates to the land bank for all
parcels listed in the land bank’s verified statement that
remain liable to sale for delinquent taxes. The land bank’s
exclusive right to purchase tax sale certificates to parcels
included in the land bank tax sale is prior and superior to the
rights of any other tax sale bidder. Any tax sale certificate
issued to a land bank under the provisions of this section
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shall secure a one hundred percent interest in the parcel.
6. The separate land bank tax sale shall be conducted by
the treasurer prior to the separate public nuisance tax sale
conducted under section 446.19B. If the same parcel is listed
in both such sales, the parcel shall be sold to the land bank.
7. If any parcel identified within the land bank’s verified
statement has been removed from the land bank tax sale because
of receipt by the treasurer of payment of the taxes required to
eliminate the delinquency, the treasurer shall refund to the
land bank the amount paid with respect to the total amount due
for the parcel.
8. For purposes of this section, “abandoned” , “blighted” ,
“dilapidated” , “geographical boundaries of the land bank” , “land
bank” , and “rehabilitation” mean the same as defined in section
358A.3.
Sec. 21. Section 447.9, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
1. After one year and nine months from the date of sale, or
after nine months from the date of a sale made under section
446.18 , or after three months from the date of a sale made
under section 446.19A , or 446.19B , or 446.19C, the holder
of the certificate of purchase may cause to be served upon
the person in possession of the parcel, and also upon the
person in whose name the parcel is taxed, a notice signed by
the certificate holder or the certificate holder’s agent or
attorney, stating the date of sale, the description of the
parcel sold, the name of the purchaser, and that the right
of redemption will expire and a deed for the parcel be made
unless redemption is made within ninety days from the completed
service of the notice. The notice shall be served by both
regular mail and certified mail to the person’s last known
address and such service is deemed completed when the notice
is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery. The
ninety-day redemption period begins as provided in section
447.12 . When the notice is given by a county as a holder of
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a certificate of purchase the notice shall be signed by the
county treasurer or the county attorney, and when given by a
city, it shall be signed by the city officer designated by
resolution of the council. When the notice is given by the
Iowa finance authority or a city or county agency holding
the parcel as part of an Iowa homesteading project, it shall
be signed on behalf of the agency or authority by one of its
officers, as authorized in rules of the agency or authority.
DIVISION III
OTHER COORDINATING PROVISIONS
Sec. 22. Section 11.1, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code 2021,
is amended to read as follows:
c. “Governmental subdivision” means cities and
administrative agencies established by cities, hospitals or
health care facilities established by a city, counties, county
hospitals organized under chapters 347 and 347A , memorial
hospitals organized under chapter 37 , entities organized under
chapter 28E , land banks created under chapter 358A, community
colleges, area education agencies, and school districts.
Sec. 23. Section 21.2, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . k. A land bank created under chapter 358A.
Sec. 24. Section 22.1, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
1. “Government body” means this state, or any county,
city, township, school corporation, political subdivision,
tax-supported district, nonprofit corporation other than a
fair conducting a fair event as provided in chapter 174 , whose
facilities or indebtedness are supported in whole or in part
with property tax revenue and which is licensed to conduct
pari-mutuel wagering pursuant to chapter 99D ; the governing
body of a drainage or levee district as provided in chapter
468 , including a board as defined in section 468.3 , regardless
of how the district is organized; a land bank created under
chapter 358A; or other entity of this state, or any branch,
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department, board, bureau, commission, council, committee,
official, or officer of any of the foregoing or any employee
delegated the responsibility for implementing the requirements
of this chapter .
Sec. 25. Section 97B.1A, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
a. “Employer” means the state of Iowa, the counties,
municipalities, agencies, public school districts, all
political subdivisions, and all of their departments and
instrumentalities, including area agencies on aging, other than
those employing persons as specified in subsection 8 , paragraph
“b” , subparagraph (7), land banks created under chapter 358A,
and joint planning commissions created under chapter 28E or
28I .
Sec. 26. Section 364.7, Code 2021, is amended to read as
follows:
364.7 Disposal of property.
A city may not dispose of an interest in real property by
sale, lease for a term of more than three years, or gift,
except in accordance with the following procedure:
1. The council shall set forth its proposal in a resolution
and shall publish notice as provided in section 362.3 , of the
resolution and of a date, time and place of a public hearing on
the proposal.
2. After the public hearing, the council may make a final
determination on the proposal by resolution.
3. A city may not dispose of real property by gift except
to a governmental body for a public purpose or to a land bank
created under chapter 358A .
Sec. 27. Section 427.1, Code 2021, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 42. Land bank property. The real property
of a land bank created under chapter 358A. For purposes of
this subsection, real property includes but is not limited
to real property held by a land bank as lessor pursuant
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to long-term lease contracts with community land trusts as
defined in 42 U.S.C. §12773, but does not include real property
otherwise leased by a land bank to a third party and does not
include real property that has been sold on contract, which
real property shall be subject to property taxation in the name
of the contract buyer.
Sec. 28. Section 573.1, subsection 3, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
3. “Public corporation” shall embrace the state, and all
counties, cities, public school corporations, any land bank
created under chapter 358A, and all officers, boards, or
commissions empowered by law to enter into contracts for the
construction of public improvements.
Sec. 29. Section 657A.2, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
1. No sooner than the later of thirty days after the
responsible building official’s findings have been provided
under section 657A.1A or six months after a building has
become abandoned, a petition for abatement under this chapter
may be filed in the district court of the county in which
the property is located by the city in which the property is
located, by the county if the property is located outside the
limits of a city, by a neighboring landowner, by a land bank
created under chapter 358A, or by a duly organized nonprofit
corporation which has as one of its goals the improvement of
housing conditions in the county or city in which the property
in question is located. The petition shall not demand a
personal judgment against any party, but shall concern only
the interests in the property. A petition for abatement filed
under this chapter shall include the legal description of
the real property upon which the public nuisance is located
unless the public nuisance is not situated on or confined to
a parcel of real property, or is portable or capable of being
removed from the real property. Service shall be made on all
interested persons by personal service or, if personal service
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cannot be made, by certified mail and first class mail to the
last known address of record of the interested person and by
posting the notice in a conspicuous place on the building,
or by publication. The last known address of record for the
property owner shall be the address of record with the county
treasurer of the county where the property is located. Service
may also be made as provided in section 654.4A .
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill provides for the establishment of land banks.
Division I of the bill authorizes one or more municipalities
to establish a land bank as a method to return dilapidated,
abandoned, blighted, and tax-delinquent properties in their
communities to economically productive status. An established
land bank is a public agency for the purpose of joint exercise
of governmental powers, a governmental body for purposes
of public meetings requirements of Code chapter 21, and a
government body for purposes of public records requirements
of Code chapter 22. Land banks are subject to periodic
examination by the auditor of state under Code chapter 11. The
bill requires the board to establish bylaws addressing matters
necessary to govern the conduct of the land bank.
Division I of the bill also grants a land bank various powers
and duties, including the authority to acquire properties
through certain procedures, including the purchase of tax
sale certificates and the foreclosure of properties acquired
at a tax sale if not redeemed. However, the bill explicitly
prohibits a land bank from possessing or exercising the power
of eminent domain. The bill establishes financing procedures
that govern land banks, including allowing to be remitted to
the land bank up to 75 percent of real property taxes collected
on a real property conveyed or leased by a land bank that
remains after the division of taxes for an urban renewal area
and exclusive of any amount levied by a school district for
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five consecutive years after the property is again put on the
tax rolls. The bill requires a land bank to submit annual
reports to the governing body that created the land bank. The
bill provides procedures for disposing of property that is
acquired by the land bank. The bill also provides procedures
for dissolving a land bank.
Division II of the bill creates a land bank tax sale
procedure, which allows a land bank to acquire abandoned,
blighted, or dilapidated properties through an exclusive tax
sale. In order to acquire property through a land bank tax
sale, the land bank shall file a verified statement identifying
the parcels for which the land bank intends to purchase the tax
sale certificates and shall pay the delinquent total amounts
due on each parcel before May 15. Upon timely receipt of
the land bank’s verified statement and payment, the county
treasurer shall remove the identified parcels from the regular
annual tax sale and place those parcels in the land bank tax
sale. The land bank tax sale shall occur before a public
nuisance tax sale.
Division III of the bill makes changes throughout the Code
to conform with land bank procedures established in division
I of the bill.
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