SCS/SB 795 - The act authorizes the establishment of a land bank agency in Kansas City. This act also modifies provisions of law that apply to the sale of tax-delinquent property in certain first class counties and that govern land trusts in certain counties to provide for how these provisions will interact with land bank agency powers and operations. The act authorizes Kansas City to create a land bank agency by adopting an ordinance or resolution. The board of commissioners of the land bank agency will have five or seven members, one member appointed by the county, one member appointed by the school district with the largest population in the county, and the remaining members appointed by Kansas City. Board members serve four year terms and may only be reimbursed for expenses.
All property held by a land trust that is within Kansas City is required to be transferred to the land bank, within a year after the city adopts the ordinance or resolution creating the land bank agency. Land bank property and income are exempt from state and local taxes.
The land bank has the power to borrow money, issue bonds, contract, invest money, and acquire, develop, demolish, rehabilitate, lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of real estate. The land bank does not have the power of eminent domain. To carry out its functions the land bank may hire staff, and contract with political subdivisions for staffing services. The act requires the land bank agency to have the approval of the municipality that created the land bank to issue bonds.
The land bank is authorized to acquire property by gift, transfer, exchange, foreclosure, or purchase. The land bank is prohibited from owning real estate outside the boundaries of Kansas City, but may accept transfers of real estate from political subdivisions.
If a land bank bids at a tax foreclosure sale in amount that equals the amount of the tax liens, plus interest and costs, the land bank shall be sold the property. If property inside Kansas City has been offered for sale at three different tax sales and has not sold, it is automatically transferred to the land bank. The act limits the land bank agency's ability to make certain bids at a sheriff's foreclosure sale to bidding on property that is located within a low to moderate income area designated as a target area for revitalization by the municipality that created the land bank agency.
After the land bank transfers property, for the next three years, the taxes on the real estate go to the land bank agency to fund its operations. The act also specifies how money from the sale of land bank property is distributed.
The land bank is subject to Missouri open meetings and open records laws.
Members of the board of the land bank and its employees are prohibited from having any interest in the land bank property, or from profiting from land bank operations.
The a land trust and the land bank agency are authorized to file a court petition to quiet title to several parcels of property in one petition. The act requires the court to hold a hearing within ninety days of filing the petition and issue its final judgment within one hundred twenty days.
This act is similar to HB 1659 (2012).
EMILY KALMER