TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 8

POWERS AND DUTIES OF BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

31-808.  Sale of county property — General procedure — Sale of property acquired through tax deed — Procedure after attempted auction — Exchange of county property — Sale of certain odd-lot property — Sale, exchange or donation of property to other units of government. (1) A board of county commissioners shall have the power and authority to sell or offer for sale at public auction any real or personal property belonging to the county not necessary for its use. However, personal property not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in value may be sold at private sale without notice or public auction. Prior to offering the property for sale, the board of county commissioners shall advertise notice of the auction in a newspaper, as defined in section 60-106, Idaho Code, either published in the county or having a general circulation in the county, not less than ten (10) calendar days prior to the auction. If the property to be sold is real property, the notice to be published shall contain the legal description as well as the street address of the property. If the property is outside the corporate limits of a city and does not have a street address, then the description shall also contain the distance and direction of the location of the real property from the closest city.

If the property to be sold is acquired by tax deed, the notice required to be published shall include, next to the description of the property, the name of the taxpayer as it appears in the delinquent tax certificate upon which the tax deed was issued. The property shall be sold to the highest bidder. However, the board of county commissioners shall set the minimum bid for the tax deeded property to include all property taxes owing, interest and costs but they may reserve the right to reject any and all bids and shall have discretionary authority to reject or accept any bid which may be made for an amount less than the total amount of all delinquent taxes, late charges, interest and costs, including other costs associated with the property, advertising, and sale, which may have accrued against any property so offered for sale, including the amount specified in the tax deed to the county. Such action by the board in setting the minimum bid shall be duly noted in their minutes. Failure to do so shall not invalidate a sale. For tax deeded property, the board of county commissioners shall conduct an auction no later than fourteen (14) months from the issuance of the tax deed.

(2)  (a) Proceeds from the sale of county property not acquired by tax deed shall be paid into the county treasury for the general use of the county.

(b)  If the property to be sold has been acquired by tax deed, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 10, title 63, Idaho Code, the proceeds from the sale, after payment of all delinquent taxes, late charges, interest and costs, including the cost for maintaining the property, shall be apportioned by the board of county commissioners to parties in interest as defined in section 63-201, Idaho Code, and then to the owner(s) of record of such property at the time the tax deed was issued on the property.

(c)  Once such tax deeded property has been sold, the board of county commissioners shall within thirty (30) days notify all parties in interest of such sale and the amount of the excess proceeds. Such parties in interest shall respond to the board of county commissioners, within sixty (60) days of receiving such notice, making claim on the proceeds. No responses postmarked or received after the sixtieth day shall be accepted. Within sixty (60) days of the date a claim on the proceeds is due, the board of county commissioners shall make payment to parties in interest in priority of the liens pursuant to law or shall transfer the funds to the state treasurer as set forth in paragraph (d) of this subsection. All funds available after payment to parties in interest shall be returned to the owner(s) of record of the property at the time the tax deed was issued. All costs associated with the compliance of this section shall be deducted from any amounts refunded to the parties in interest or owner(s) of record or transferred to the state treasurer.

(d)  With the consent of the state treasurer, the board of county commissioners may transfer funds to be paid to parties in interest or the owner(s) of records pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subsection to the state treasurer. Upon transfer, the board of county commissioners shall immediately notify by first-class mail all parties that submitted a claim on the proceeds and the owner(s) of record of the transfer. The board of county commissioners shall provide such information to the state treasurer concerning the claims and the proceeds as the state treasurer shall reasonably request. The state treasurer shall keep and distribute the proceeds in accordance with chapter 5, title 14, Idaho Code.

(3)  Any property sold may be carried on a recorded contract with the county for a term not to exceed ten (10) years and at an interest rate not to exceed the rate of interest specified in section 28-22-104(1), Idaho Code. The board of county commissioners shall have the authority to cancel any contract if the purchaser fails to comply with any of the terms of the contract and the county shall retain all payments made on the contract. The title to all property sold on contract shall be retained in the name of the county until full payment has been made by the purchaser. However, the purchaser shall be responsible for payment of all property taxes during the period of the contract.

(4)  Any sale of property by the county shall vest in the purchaser all of the right, title and interest of the county in the property, including all delinquent taxes that have become a lien on the property since the date of issue of the tax deed, if any, but excluding easements, highways, and rights-of-way owned by the county, unless expressly conveyed.

(5)  In addition to the purchase price, a purchaser of county property, including property acquired by tax deed, shall pay all fees required by law for the transfer of property. No deed for any real estate purchased pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be delivered to a purchaser until such deed has been recorded in the county making the sale.

(6)  Should the county be unable to sell at a public auction any real or personal property belonging to the county, including property acquired by tax deed, it may sell the property without further notice by public or private sale upon such terms and conditions as the county deems necessary. Distribution of the proceeds of sale shall be as set forth in subsection (2) of this section.

(7)  The board of county commissioners may at its discretion, when in the county’s best interest, exchange and do all things necessary to exchange any of the real property now or hereafter held and owned by the county for real property of equal value, public or private, to consolidate county real property or aid the county in the control and management or use of county real property.

(8)  The board of county commissioners may, by resolution, declare certain parcels of real property as odd-lot property, all or portions of which are not needed for public purposes and are excess to the needs of the county. For purposes of this subsection, odd-lot property is defined as that property that has an irregular shape or is a remnant and has value primarily to an adjoining property owner. Odd-lot property may be sold to an adjacent property owner for fair market value that is estimated by a land appraiser licensed to appraise property in the state of Idaho. If, after thirty (30) days’ written notice, an adjoining property owner or owners do not desire to purchase the odd-lot property, the board of county commissioners may sell the property to any other interested party for not less than the appraised value. When a sale of odd-lot property is agreed to, a public advertisement of the pending sale shall be published in one (1) edition of the newspaper as defined in subsection (1) of this section, and the public shall have fifteen (15) days to object to the sale in writing. The board of county commissioners shall make the final determination regarding the sale of odd-lot property in an open meeting.

(9)  In addition to any other powers granted by law, the board of county commissioners may at their discretion, grant to or exchange with the federal government, the state of Idaho, any political subdivision or taxing district of the state of Idaho or any local historical society which is incorporated as an Idaho nonprofit corporation which operates primarily in the county or maintains a museum in the county, with or without compensation, any real or personal property or any interest in such property owned by the county, excluding such property acquired by tax deed on or after July 1, 2024, after adoption of a resolution by the board of county commissioners that the grant or exchange of property is in the public interest. Notice of such grant or exchange shall be as provided in subsection (1) of this section and the decision may be made at any regularly or specially scheduled meeting of the board of county commissioners. The execution and delivery by the county of the deed conveying an interest in the property shall operate to discharge and cancel all levies, liens and taxes made or created for the benefit of the state, county or any other political subdivision or taxing district and to cancel all titles or claims of title including claims of redemption to such real property asserted or existing at the time of such conveyance. However, if the property conveyed is subject to a lien for one (1) or more unsatisfied special assessments, the lien shall continue until all special assessments have been paid in full. At no time shall a lien for a special assessment be extinguished prior to such special assessment having been paid in full. Any property conveyed to any local historical society by the county shall revert to the county when the property is no longer utilized for the purposes for which it was conveyed.

(10) When the county has title to mineral rights severed from the property to which they attach, and the mineral rights have value of less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per acre, the board of county commissioners may act to return the mineral rights to the land from which they were severed in the following manner: the proposed action must appear on the agenda of a regular meeting of the board of county commissioners; and the motion to make the return must be adopted unanimously by the board voting in open meeting.

History:

[31-808, added 1999, ch. 215, sec. 3, p. 573; am. 2001, ch. 333, sec. 1, p. 1174; am. 2003, ch. 58, sec. 1, p. 202; am. 2003, ch. 68, sec. 1, p. 227; am. 2004, ch. 318, sec. 4, p. 895; am. 2008, ch. 397, sec. 1, p. 1084; am. 2016, ch. 211, sec. 1, p. 594; am. 2016, ch. 273, sec. 2, p. 751; am. 2024, ch. 22, sec. 1, p. 173.]