Section 51.006. Requirements for land acquisition projects.

 

(1)   Grant cost share. Except for grants issued under ss. 23.0917 (4m) (i) and (j) , and 23.096 (2m) , Stats., the department shall award grants for up to 50 percent of the acquisition cost. The remainder of the acquisition cost shall come from sponsor match. The sponsor shall indicate all known sources of sponsor match when the grant application is submitted to the department, and dedicated match shall be specifically identified.

(2)   Acquisition cost calculation. The acquisition cost of donated and acquired property is either the fair market value and other costs approved by the department according to s. NR 51.002 (1) , or may be the owner's purchase price plus the annual adjustment increase, as specified in s. 23.0917 (7) (b) , (c) , or (d) , Stats., when the seller has owned the property for less than three years.

(3)   Property used as a portion of sponsor match.

(a) With approval of the department, the sponsor may use up to 50 percent of the fair market value of a donated property or of a property purchased with other than state funds as all or part of sponsor match, but only to the extent that stewardship grant assistance is needed to acquire the subject parcel, and if the donated property is acquired by the sponsor within 3 years of the date that the subject parcel is to be acquired.

(b) The amount that may be used for sponsor match shall equal the fair market value or the amount of money needed by the sponsor for the purchase, whichever is less. The grant payment may not exceed the amount of money actually needed for the purchase.

(c) Donations of property are eligible as sponsor match only if the match property is eligible for the same stewardship grant program as the property being acquired. The match property shall be encumbered in perpetuity by the conditions and restrictions of that stewardship program purpose.

(d) If approved by the department, any residual value from an approved property match that is not utilized as sponsor match for a grant application may be used for sponsor match in subsequent grant applications. The sponsor has 36 months following the date that the department issued the original grant under this chapter to submit future applications that will use the residual value. This paragraph shall not apply to subchapter XVII .

(e) Property acquired through a lawfully required subdivision parkland dedication or through condemnation is not eligible to be used as sponsor match.

(4)   Signage. Sponsors shall acknowledge the state's assistance in acquiring fee title or easement ownership of a property, and provide notice of public access with content that meets the requirements in s. 23.09165 (3) , Stats., by placement of signs or in any other manner approved by the department. The department may provide one-time cost-sharing to eligible project sponsors for signage consistent with the requirements of s. 23.09165 (3) , Stats., with cost-share not to exceed $1,000, even if property being signed was purchased in part with a Stewardship grant before March 1, 2012.

(5)   Public access. As a condition of the grant contract, a sponsor acquiring property through title in fee simple with a grant under this subchapter shall ensure that the property is available for public access as provided in s. 23.0916 , Stats. The department may grant exceptions to this access requirement in accordance with s. 23.0916 , Stats., and ch. NR 52 .

(6)   Easement acquisition.

(a) For easements acquired with a stewardship grant, the sponsor may not convert or approve conversion of land encumbered by the easement to uses inconsistent with the easement or the grant contract.

(b) When a stewardship grant is awarded for acquisition of an easement, the sponsor shall prepare a baseline document, approved by the landowner and available to the department for inspection, before grant payments are made.

(c) The sponsor shall monitor any easement acquired with a stewardship grant at least once a year to ensure that the provisions of the easement are being satisfied. The sponsor shall compare the condition of the property with the baseline document, and shall enforce all easement provisions. The sponsor shall submit a report documenting annual monitoring and any enforcement measures taken to the department as requested.

(d) The sponsor shall ensure that the holder of any mortgage or land contract on easement property shall subordinate its rights to the terms of the easement before grant payments are made.

(e) The sponsor shall use the department's standard easement template for the appropriate stewardship grant program when developing its easement document.

(f) The department shall have access to property on which an easement is acquired with a grant under this chapter, in a reasonable manner upon prior notice to the sponsor and the landowner, to monitor compliance with the conditions of the grant contract. The conditions of that access shall be contained in the easement agreed to by the landowner. The department may grant a variance to this access requirement in extraordinary situations according to the procedure in s. NR 51.003 .

(7)   Public notice. The department shall follow procedures identified in s. NR 52.04 , when notifying the public of land acquisition projects seeking funding under this chapter.

(8)   Title. Title to property acquired with a stewardship grant shall vest in the sponsor, except when acquired by the Kickapoo reserve management board where title shall vest in the state.

CR 10-127 : cr. Register February 2012 No. 674 , eff. 3-1-12.

Note

A copy of department appraisal guidelines are available from the DNR, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 For example: A sponsor wishes to buy Parcel A with a fair market value of $14,000, but a purchase price of only $10,000. Parcel B, with fair market value of $20,000, has been donated to the sponsor by another landowner and the sponsor uses Parcel B as its sponsor match for grant purposes. When grant funding is provided by the department, both Parcels A and B become part of the program. The total value of both Parcel A and Parcel B is $14,000 + $20,000 = $34,000. A grant under this chapter will normally not exceed 50 percent of the total project costs, or 50 percent x $34,000 = $17,000. However, because it only cost the sponsor $10,000 to purchase Parcel A, a grant award of $17,000 would result in profit for the sponsor. Therefore, the grant award to the sponsor can only be $10,000. The remaining $7,000 in value may be used as match by the sponsor for a subsequent application within 36 months of the date the Department issues the grant contract for both Parcels A and B. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Copies of the department's easement standards and guidelines are available from the DNR, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1