360.9 Reversion of real estate — payment.

1. a. Any real estate, including improvements thereon, situated wholly outside of a city, owned by a township and heretofore used for township purposes and which is no longer necessary for township purposes, shall revert to the present owner of the tract from which the same was taken, provided that said owner of the tract last aforesaid shall, within the time hereinafter prescribed, pay the value thereof to the township clerk. In the event the township trustees and said owner of the tract from which such real property was taken do not agree as to the value of such property and improvements thereon, the township clerk shall, on written application of either party, appoint three disinterested residents of the township to appraise such property and improvements thereon.

b. The township clerk shall give notice to said trustees and said owner of the time and place of making such appraisement, which notice shall be served in the same manner and for the same time as for the commencement of action in the district court. Such appraisers shall inspect the real estate and improvements and, at the time and place designated in the notice, appraise the same in writing, which appraisement, after being duly verified, shall be filed with the township clerk.

c. If the present owner of the tract from which said site was taken fails to pay the amount of such appraisement to such township within twenty days after the filing of same with the township clerk, the township trustees may sell said site, including any improvements thereon, to any person at the appraised value, or may sell the same at public auction for the best bid.

2. Any real estate, including improvements thereon, situated within a city, owned by a township and heretofore used for township purposes and which is no longer necessary for township purposes, may be sold by the township trustees at public auction for the best bid.

3. The township trustees in the case of joint ownership, in conjunction with any city authorities, shall not sell such real estate including improvements thereon unless the city authorities concur in such sale. The proceeds of such sale of jointly owned real estate including improvements located thereon shall be prorated between the township and the city on the basis of their respective contribution to the acquisition and maintenance of such property.

4. a. Sales at public auction contemplated herein shall be made only after the township trustees advertise for bids for such property. Such advertisement shall definitely describe said property and be published by at least one insertion each week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper having general circulation in the township.

b. The township trustee shall not, prior to two weeks after the said second publication, nor later than six months after said second publication, accept any bid. The township trustees may accept only the best bid received prior to acceptance. The township trustees may decline to sell if all the bids received are deemed inadequate.

5. Subject to the right of reversion to the present owner as provided in this section, the township trustees may sell, lease, exchange, give, or grant and accept any interest in real property to, with, or from any county, municipal corporation, or school district if the real property is within the jurisdiction of both the grantor and grantee and the advertising and public auction requirements of this section shall not apply to any such transaction between the aforesaid local units of government.

[C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §360.9]

2010 Acts, ch 1061, §147; 2011 Acts, ch 34, §89