Hon. Mike Hatch
Attorney General
State of Minnesota
1400 NCL Tower
445 Minnesota St.
St. Paul, MN 55101
RE: Request for Formal Legal Opinions
Dear Attorney General Hatch:
This request is made on behalf of the Pelican Group of Lakes Improvement District(“PGOLID”),
a political subdivision created pursuant to MSA § 103B.501.
PGOLID’s governing Board approved submission of this request
at its October
2, 2004 regular meeting.
The questions concern who is eligible to vote at the statutory annual meeting
of the lakeimprovement district (“LID”). Section 103B.571 requires
that the LID conduct an annual meeting which includes the following agenda:
(a) At the annual meeting the district property owners present
shall:
(1) elect one or more directors to fill any midterm vacancies
in the board of directors;
(2) approve a budget for the fiscal year;
(3) approve or disapprove proposed projects by the district having
a cost to the district in excess of $5,000;
and
(4) take up and consider other business that comes before them.
(b) At the annual meeting all district property owners, including
absent members as provided in
the order establishing the district, shall
elect one or more directors
for board positions with expiring terms.
In turn, section 103B.505(6) defines "Property owner" as “the
owner of
real property within the district or the buyer under contract for
deed
of property in the district.“
Attorney General Hatch
October 5, 2004
Page 2 of 3
However, the Legislature does not appear to have provided answers to many
other questions that we have encountered while conducting our annual meetings.1
The core question that has arisen is:
Question 1: Can a LID establish voting procedures that give one vote
to
each parcel of land in the district rather than one vote per named
owner or owners of the parcel?
If the answer to question 1 is negative, what are the answers to the following
questions?
Question 2: Does the term “property owner” include
all natural persons who are listed on the deed or contract
for deed, even if they are less than the age of majority?
Question 3: Is there any limit to the number of natural persons who
can
be listed on a deed or contract for deed who are considered a “property
owner” and
are therefore entitled to notice of, and vote at, annual meetings?
Question 4: Does a “property owner” get more than one vote
if he,
she, they or it own more than one separately identified
parcel of real property within PGOLID?
Question 5: Does the answer to the question immediately above
change if
any of the properties have some owners who are the same, but
also have different owners? For example, parents A and B own parcel
1 together with their children C and D. An adjacent parcel 2 within
PGOLID is owned by A, B and C, while adjacent parcel 3 within PGOLID is
owned by A, B and D.
Question 6: How many “property owners” are entitled to vote
if a
parcel within PGOLID is owned by a natural person and
a legal entity such as a trust?
Question
7: Who is the “property owner” when real property
within
PGOLID is held by a trust? Is it the trustee(s)
or the
beneficiary or beneficiaries, or all or some of them?
Question 8: Does a trust, partnership or corporation “property
owner” get
more than one vote if the respective entity has multiple trustees
(or
beneficiaries),multiple partners or multiple shareholders? If so,
how
many votes and is there a maximum?
______________ 1
We are aware your office previously provided an informal letter on this
issue, a copy of which is attached for reference. We note further
that the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources has promulgated regulations which contain definitions
of “owner” and “
resident owner” for purposes of petitioning to establish a Lake
Improvement District. See Minnesota Rules 6115.0900 et seq. If you
determine those Rules impact this issue,
please include them in your consideration of the questions.
Attorney General Hatch
October 5, 2004
Page 3 of 3
Question 9: If a natural person has lost his or her right to vote in
state
elections through judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, does that
person lose their “property owner” voting rights?
None of these questions are hypothetical. All of them have been encountered
by PGOLID in either providing notice of the annual meeting
or in absentee
or in-person voting at the annual meeting. We will therefore appreciate
your guidance on these issues, the resolution of which are crucial to the
operation of PGOLID.
Please let me know if your office needs additional information about PGOLID
or the background or reasons for these questions. Thank you in advance for
your legal opinions.
Sincerely,
The Pelican Lake Group of Lakes Improvement District
__________________________________________
By Daniel J. Crothers,
It’s Board Chair
cc: David Hauser, Otter Tail County Attorney |