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LINO LAKES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AGENDA ITEM 4 STAFF ORIG INATOR: Mary Alice Divine MEETING DATE: February 25 , 2013 TOPIC: Consi deration of Resolution No. 13 -01 Approving Efforts to Seek Special Legislati on Authorizing Conveyance of Certain Tax - Forfeited Land from Anoka County to the City of Lino Lakes VOTE REQUIRED: 3/5 INTRODUCTION A resolution by the City of Lino Lakes City Council is required when seeking special legislative authority to al low Anoka County to convey the tax forfeited properties within the Legacy at Woods Edge development without monetary consideration. BACKGROUND In 2004 the City and the EDA entered into a Contract for Private Development with Hartford Development for the d evelopment of Legacy at Woods Edge. In support of that project, the City issued GO bonds in the amount of $5,550,000 to finance public improvements necessary for the development. Assessments against the properties were proposed to pay the debt service on t he bonds. In 2009, 16 of the parcels in the development went into foreclosure and are now tax forfeit. Sale of tax forfeited properties is under Anoka County’s authority. Minnesota Statutes require that any proceeds to Anoka County from the sale of these properties be returned to the City to pay outstanding assessments. If the assessments are less than the market value, the remaining proceeds are distributed to all taxing jurisdictions. Total outstanding assessments in the Legacy development ar e $5.8 mil lion, greater than the market value; therefore the proceeds of a sale will be returned to the City. This legislation is for the purpose of obtaini ng all the properties without monetary consideration based on the reasoning that the proceeds of a sale wo uld be returned to the Cit y, there is no net benefit to any taxing jurisdiction through reconveyance of the properties, and t his eliminates the need for a parcel by parcel purchase from the County for the purposes of development. T he parcel that is propose d to be purchased by Lino Lakes Assisted L iving will be exempt from this legislation. If the City is able to convey parcels to private parties for more than the amount of the assessments, the bill provides that the City would return 10 percent of the gros s sale proceeds to the County, for re distri bution to taxing jurisdictions. This language provides a potential recovery of a portion of the delinquent taxes if market conditions permit. In the proposed legislation Anoka County has specified that the land be conveyed all at once rather than parcel b y parcel as development occurs.