SB 217: "An Act relating to land of the University of Alaska and authorizing the University of Alaska to select additional state public domain land."
00SENATE BILL NO. 217 01 "An Act relating to land of the University of Alaska and authorizing the 02 University of Alaska to select additional state public domain land." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. The legislature finds that 05 (1) as the beneficiary under the provisions of the Acts of August 30, 1890, and 06 March 4, 1907, designating the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines as 07 beneficiary, and of March 4, 1915, 38 Stat. 1214, transferring certain land for its location and 08 support, the University of Alaska is a land grant university; 09 (2) under the Acts of March 4, 1915, 38 Stat. 1214, and January 21, 1929, 45 10 Stat. 1091, the Congress of the United States granted to the Territory of Alaska certain federal 11 land to be held in trust for the benefit of the predecessor of the University of Alaska; 12 (3) the Territory was unable to receive most of the land conveyed by the Act 13 of March 4, 1915, before repeal of that Act by sec. 6(k) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 339); 14 (4) the Congress of the United States granted the State of Alaska the right to
01 select 102,500,000 acres of federal land under sec. 6(b) of the Alaska Statehood Act; 02 (5) the land selection rights embodied in the Alaska Statehood Act reflect in 03 part congressional recognition that the state would need the land to support its government and 04 programs, and the Congress assumed that the State of Alaska would in turn devote some of 05 the land or the income from it for the use and benefit of the University of Alaska; 06 (6) most land grant colleges in the western United States have obtained a larger 07 land grant from the federal government than the University of Alaska has received; 08 (7) an academically strong and financially secure state university system is a 09 cornerstone to the long-term development of a stable population and to a healthy, diverse 10 economy in the state; and 11 (8) it is in the best interests of the state and the University of Alaska that the 12 university take ownership to a significant and substantial portfolio of income producing land 13 in order to provide income for the support of public higher education in the state. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 14.40.170(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) The Board of Regents shall 16 (1) appoint the president of the university by a majority vote of the 17 whole board, and the president may attend meetings of the board; 18 (2) fix the compensation of the president of the university, all heads of 19 departments, professors, teachers, instructors, and other officers; 20 (3) confer such appropriate degrees as it may determine and prescribe; 21 (4) have the care, control, and management of 22 (A) all the real and personal property of the university; and 23 (B) land 24 (i) conveyed to the Board of Regents by the 25 commissioner of natural resources in the settlement of the claim of the 26 University of Alaska to land granted to the state in accordance with the 27 Act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1214), as amended, and in accordance 28 with the Act of January 21, 1929 (45 Stat. 1091), as amended; and 29 (ii) selected by the university and conveyed to it by 30 the commissioner of natural resources under AS 14.40.365; 31 (5) keep a correct and easily understood record of the minutes of every
01 meeting and all acts done by it in pursuance of its duties; 02 (6) under procedures to be established by the commissioner of 03 administration, and in accordance with existing procedures for other state agencies, 04 have the care, control, and management of all money of the university and keep a 05 complete record of all money received and disbursed; 06 (7) adopt reasonable rules for the prudent trust management and the 07 long-term financial benefit to the university of the land of the university; 08 (8) provide public notice of sales, leases, exchanges, and transfers of 09 the land of the university or of interests in land of the university; 10 (9) report each year within the first 10 days of the convening of a 11 regular session of the legislature on the expenditures made during the preceding fiscal 12 year from the funds of the University of Alaska that are derived from sales, leases, 13 exchanges, or transfers of the land of the university or of interests in land of the 14 university 15 (A) that were conveyed to the University of Alaska in 16 settlement of the claim of the University of Alaska to land granted to the state 17 in accordance with the Act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1214), as amended, and 18 in accordance with the Act of January 21, 1929 (45 Stat. 1091), as amended; 19 and 20 (B) that were selected by and conveyed to the university 21 under AS 14.40.365. 22 * Sec. 3. AS 14.40.291 is amended to read: 23 Sec. 14.40.291. LAND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA NOT PUBLIC 24 DOMAIN LAND. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, university-grant land, 25 state replacement land that becomes university-grant land on conveyance to the 26 university, land selected by and conveyed to the university under AS 14.40.365, and 27 any other land owned by the University of Alaska is not and may not be treated as 28 state public domain land. Title to or interest in [TO] land described in this section 29 may not be acquired by adverse possession, prescription, or in any other manner except 30 by conveyance from the university. The land is subject to condemnation for public 31 purpose in accordance with law.
01 * Sec. 4. AS 14.40 is amended by adding a new section to read: 02 Sec. 14.40.365. UNIVERSITY LAND FROM STATEHOOD ACT LAND 03 SELECTION CONVEYANCES. (a) The University of Alaska may select and is 04 entitled to receive the conveyance of 1,000,000 acres of land conveyed to the state 05 under sec. 6(b) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 339), including its 06 mineral estate, that, on the date of its selection by the university 07 (1) has not been conveyed or encumbered by the state, or reserved by 08 law from the public domain, or is subject to only one or more of the following: 09 (A) a lease other than an oil or gas lease; 10 (B) a timber contract; 11 (C) a mining claim; 12 (D) a sale of materials under AS 38.05.110 - 38.05.120; 13 (E) a land use permit or right-of-way issued by the Department 14 of Natural Resources under AS 38.05; 15 (2) is not necessary to carry out the purpose of an interagency land 16 management agreement; or 17 (3) is not subject to conveyance under a land exchange or land 18 settlement agreement. 19 (b) Notwithstanding AS 38.05.125(a), the transfer of ownership and 20 management of land from the Department of Natural Resources to the Board of 21 Regents of the University of Alaska under this section includes the mineral estate of 22 the state in the land. 23 (c) When the University of Alaska selects the land to which it is entitled under 24 this section, unless the commissioner determines under (d) of this section that title to 25 the land should not be conveyed, the commissioner of natural resources shall convey 26 title to the land selected. The university shall bear all costs of survey of the land. 27 (d) The commissioner may not convey title to any land selection made by the 28 university under this section if the commissioner determines that the proposed selection 29 is not in the best interests of the state. In making a determination as to whether a 30 selection by the university under this section is in the best interests of the state, the 31 commissioner shall consider
01 (1) the interest of the general public in retention of the land in state 02 ownership; 03 (2) ensuring an appropriate diversity in the character of land owned by 04 the state and by the university; 05 (3) the public benefits achieved by conveyance of the land to the 06 university; 07 (4) the probable potential for the development of the land and its 08 resources and the probable income to the university from the conveyance of the land; 09 (5) benefits to the university from the conveyance of the land to it; and 10 (6) the efficiency of the management of the land resulting from the 11 conveyance of the land. 12 (e) The Board of Regents may appeal to the superior court a decision of the 13 commissioner of natural resources not to convey to the university land selected by it 14 under this section. 15 (f) When land is conveyed to the university under this section, the university 16 takes the land subject to any possessory interest held by another person on the 17 effective date of the conveyance. The university is entitled to receive the consideration 18 due under that interest for the duration of the interest. 19 (g) In conveying land to the university under this section, the commissioner 20 of natural resources shall give public notice under AS 38.05.945(b) and (c) and provide 21 for access under AS 38.05.127, but other provisions of AS 38.04 and AS 38.05 do not 22 apply. 23 (h) Land transferred or conveyed to the university under this section 24 (1) is subject to 25 (A) section 6(i) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 26 Stat. 339); 27 (B) art. IX of the state constitution; 28 (C) AS 19.10.010; and 29 (D) the rights of the state under former 43 U.S.C. 932 (sec. 8, 30 Act of July 26, 1866, 14 Stat. 253); 31 (2) excludes any interest transferred to the state by quit claim deed
01 dated June 30, 1959, under authority of the Alaska Omnibus Act, P.L. 86-70, 73 Stat. 02 141. 03 * Sec. 5. AS 14.40.400(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) The Department of Revenue shall establish a separate endowment trust 05 fund in which all net income derived from the sale or lease of the land granted under 06 the Act of Congress approved January 21, 1929, and the land selected by and 07 conveyed to the university under AS 14.40.365, and in which all monetary gifts, 08 bequests, or endowments made to the University of Alaska for the purpose of the fund, 09 shall be held in trust. 10 * Sec. 6. AS 29.45.030(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) The following property is exempt from general taxation: 12 (1) municipal property, including property held by a public corporation 13 of a municipality, or state property, except that 14 (A) a private leasehold, contract, or other interest in the 15 property is taxable to the extent of the interest; 16 (B) notwithstanding any other provision of law, property 17 acquired by an agency, corporation, or other entity of the state through 18 foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure and retained as an investment of a 19 state entity is taxable; this subparagraph does not apply to federal land granted 20 to the University of Alaska under AS 14.40.380 or 14.40.390, or to other land 21 granted to the university by the state to replace land that had been granted 22 under AS 14.40.380 or 14.40.390, or to land conveyed by the state to the 23 university under AS 14.40.365; 24 (C) an ownership interest of a municipality in real property 25 located outside the municipality acquired after December 31, 1990, is taxable 26 by another municipality; however, a borough may not tax an interest in real 27 property located in the borough and owned by a city in that borough; 28 (2) household furniture and personal effects of members of a 29 household; 30 (3) property used exclusively for nonprofit religious, charitable, 31 cemetery, hospital, or educational purposes;
01 (4) property of a nonbusiness organization composed entirely of persons 02 with 90 days or more of active service in the armed forces of the United States whose 03 conditions of service and separation were other than dishonorable, or the property of 04 an auxiliary of that organization; 05 (5) money on deposit; 06 (6) the real property of certain residents of the state to the extent and 07 subject to the conditions provided in (e) of this section; 08 (7) real property or an interest in real property that is exempt from 09 taxation under 43 U.S.C. 1620(d), as amended; 10 (8) property of a political subdivision, agency, corporation, or other 11 entity of the United States to the extent required by federal law; except that a private 12 leasehold, contract, or other interest in the property is taxable to the extent of that 13 interest; 14 (9) natural resources in place including coal, ore bodies, mineral 15 deposits, and other proven and unproven deposits of valuable materials laid down by 16 natural processes, unharvested aquatic plants and animals, and timber.