2007 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 65 – State lands, lease

HOUSE BILL NO. 65

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Bill Status



H0065.........................................by RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
STATE LANDS - Amends existing law to revise provisions relating to the
lease of state lands.
                                                                        
01/26    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/29    Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/02    Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/05    Ret'd to Res/Con

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-ninth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2007
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 65
                                                                        
                          BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO STATE LANDS; AMENDING SECTION 58-307, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVI-
  3        SIONS RELATING TO THE LEASE OF STATE LANDS.
                                                                        
  4    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
  5        SECTION 1.  That Section 58-307, Idaho Code, be, and the  same  is  hereby
  6    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  7        58-307.  TERM  OF  LEASE  --  APPLICATION  FOR  RENEWAL  --  ALLOWANCE FOR
  8    IMPROVEMENTS. (1) No lease of state public school endowment lands, other  than
  9    those  valuable  for  stone,  coal, oil, gas or other minerals, shall be for a
 10    longer term than ten (10) years.
 11        (2)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, all state lands  may  be
 12    leased for a period of up to twenty-five (25) years to the federal government,
 13    to  federal agencies, state agencies, counties, or cities, school districts or
 14    political subdivisions when leased for public purposes. Such leases for public
 15    purposes may be entered into by negotiation and shall secure a  rental  amount
 16    based on the fair market value of the state land.
 17        (3)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provisions  of  law, all state endowment
 18    lands may be leased for a period of up to forty-nine (49) years for commercial
 19    purposes, under such terms and conditions as may be set by the board, provided
 20    that, for such leases in excess of ten (10) years, the board consults with the
 21    county commissioners of the county in which the lands are located before leas-
 22    ing the lands, and the use for which the land is leased  shall  be  consistent
 23    with  the  local  planning  and zoning ordinances insofar as is reasonable and
 24    practicable. For each lease in excess of ten (10) years, the department  shall
 25    hold a hearing in the county in which the parcel is located.
 26        (4)  The  term  "commercial  purposes"  means any commercial or industrial
 27    enterprises, retail sales outlets, business and professional office buildings,
 28    hospitality enterprises, commercial recreational activities, multifamily resi-
 29    dential developments and other similar businesses as defined by the board. For
 30    purposes of this section, agricultural leases, grazing  leases,  oil  and  gas
 31    leases,  mineral  leases, geothermal leases, communication site leases, single
 32    family, recreational cottage site and homesite leases, and  leases  for  other
 33    similar uses, are not considered leases for commercial purposes.
 34        (5)  The  board  may  require that all fixed improvements constructed upon
 35    land leased for commercial purposes be removed or become the property  of  the
 36    state  upon  termination  of  the  lease,  and that any heirs, encumbrances or
 37    claims of third parties with respect to any improvements  shall  be  expressly
 38    subordinate and subject to the rights of the state under this section.
 39        (6)  Except  for  geothermal,  oil and gas, mineral and commercial leases,
 40    the lease year shall run from January 1 through December 31,  and  all  leases
 41    shall expire on December 31 of the year of expiration.
 42        (7)  All applications to lease or to renew an existing lease which expires
 43    December  31  of any year, shall be filed in the office of the director of the
                                                                        
                                       2
                                                                        
  1    department of lands by the thirtieth day of April preceding the date  of  such
  2    expiration.  Such  applications will be considered by the state land board and
  3    be disposed of in the manner provided by law;  except  that  the    board  may
  4    reject  conflicting  applications  for  a lease for commercial purposes if the
  5    lessee exercises the preference right to renew clause, and provided such right
  6    is specified in the lease.
  7        (8)  Where conflicts appear upon leases, except for mineral leases  which,
  8    pursuant  to  chapter 7, title 47, Idaho Code, contain a preferential right to
  9    renew clause, such applications shall  be  considered  as  having  been  filed
 10    simultaneously.  However,  nothing  herein  shall  be construed to prevent the
 11    state board of land commissioners from accepting and considering  applications
 12    for new leases at any time.
 13        (9)  In  case  improvements have been made on land while under lease which
 14    is expiring, and the former lessee is not the successful bidder, but the  land
 15    is  leased  to  another,  the amount of such improvements shall be paid to the
 16    former lessee. The following shall be considered  improvements:  plowing  done
 17    within one (1) year, provided no crop has been raised on the plowed land after
 18    such plowing, fencing, buildings, cisterns, wells, growing crops and any other
 19    asset which shall be considered an improvement by the director.
 20        (10) Commercial leases of the state lands shall not be subject to the con-
 21    flict  auction provisions of section 58-310, Idaho Code. The board may, at its
 22    discretion, consider individual applications or call for proposals and  sealed
 23    bids  by  public  advertisement, and may evaluate said proposals and award the
 24    lease to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest return over  the  term
 25    of the lease and who is capable of meeting such terms and conditions as may be
 26    set  by  the  board; in the alternative, the board may call for lease applica-
 27    tions by public advertisement and if more than one (1) person files an  appli-
 28    cation  to  hold  an auction in the same manner as provided in section 58-310,
 29    Idaho Code. In either all cases, the board must obtain  a  reasonable  rental,
 30    based upon fair market value of the state land, throughout the duration of the
 31    lease.  The board may reject any or all proposals and any or all bids, and may
 32    reoffer the lease at a later date if the board determines that  the  proposals
 33    or bids do not achieve the highest and best use of the land at market rental.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                       STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                             RS 16719

This proposed legislation amends the definition of "commercial
purposes" as any commercial or industrial enterprise as defined
by the state land board. However, agricultural leases, grazing
leases, oil and gas leases, mineral leases, geothermal leases,
single family, recreational cottage site and homesite leases, and
leases for other similar uses, will remain as leases not
considered leases for commercial purposes.

Current Idaho Code allows the board to reject conflicting
applications for a lease for commercial purposes if the lessee
exercises the preference right to renew clause. This proposed
legislation would further require that such preference right be
specified in the lease.

The proposed legislation adds wording that would allow the
board the latitude to consider individual applications in
addition to the current procedure that a call for proposals and
sealed bids for a commercial lease may be made.


                           FISCAL NOTE

No fiscal impact.





Contact
Name:  Stan Boyd, Ridgeline Energy 
Phone: 208-344-2271
Dar Olberding 208-345-0706
George Bacon, Lands, Dept of 334-0244


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                        H 65