Surplus state property: realtors and landlocked properties.

(1) Existing law prescribes a process for the sale of surplus state real property. This process requires each state agency to report annually to the Department of General Services any proprietary state lands under the jurisdiction of that agency that are in excess of its foreseeable needs. Existing law provides certain exceptions from this requirement, including, among others, lands under the jurisdiction of specified state entities. Existing law requires the department to determine if excess land is needed by another agency and, if it is, to provide for transfer to another agency. Existing law authorizes a state agency authorized to sell surplus state property to employ a licensed real estate broker, with the approval of the department, for a negotiated commission not to exceed reasonable and customary brokerage commissions applicable to similar privately owned properties in the area. Existing law prohibits the Director of General Services from employing the services of a broker unless the director determines that the employment of a broker to sell the property would result in a cost savings to the state. This bill would revise the authorization for a state agency selling surplus state property to employ a licensed real estate broker to require that the broker be local with respect to that property and would prescribe requirements for the selection of the broker. The bill would require the state to adopt criteria to determine the competence and qualification for the services to be performed and to evaluate the customary brokerage commission to be charged based on services in the area. (2) Existing law authorizes the Director of the Department of General Services, without regard to any other law, upon the written request and consent, as specified, to sell, convey, or exchange specified properties that are not needed by any state agency at fair market value following a 30-day notice to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the applicable Members of the Senate and Assembly who represent the district in which the properties are located. Existing law requires, in this context, that the surplus character of certain properties, including those obtained as a result of seizure or with a market value of less than $25,000, be established pursuant to the general surplus property procedures described above. Existing law requires that funds received from these sales be handled the same as those funds received from surplus property sales, as specified. This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of General Services, pursuant to the provisions described above, to sell, convey, and exchange property that is landlocked or without legal access from a public road, street, or highway; property that is a remainder or remnant parcel having a diminished economic utility or value, as specified, if the sale, conveyance, or exchange is with the owner of an adjoining property, and the property meets specified size limitations; and property that is a remainder or remnant parcel acquired as part of a capital outlay project where the request to sell the property is made by the jurisdictional agency within one year of its purchase. The bill would also remove the requirement that the surplus character of certain properties be established pursuant to the general surplus property procedures, as described above. (3) The California Constitution provides that the proceeds from the sale of surplus state property be used to pay the principal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to the Economic Recovery Bond Act until the principal and interest on those bonds are fully paid, after which these proceeds are required to be deposited into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Existing statutory law similarly requires that the net proceeds received from any real property disposition be paid into the Deficit Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund Subaccount, a continuously appropriated fund, until the bonds issued pursuant to the act are retired. By increasing the amount transferred into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.