If a local government proposes to dispose of land or improvements, it must make the land or improvements available to the public for acquisition. There are a number of exceptions to this general rule, including if the disposal is to a company or individual under a partnering agreement that is subject to a competitive process (e.g., tendering, request for proposals, etc.).
All disposals of land and improvements require advertising, and in the case of disposals under a partnering agreement that was competitively bid, the advertisement must contain:
• a description of the land or improvements
• the nature and duration of the disposition, and
• the consideration to be received by the local government
It is important to note that the exception to making land and improvements available to the public for acquisition does not apply in circumstances where a partnering agreement was not part of a competitive process (e.g., unsolicited proposals). Dispositions of this sort must meet different advertising requirements, including a requirement that indicates the process by which the land or improvement may be acquired.
Thus, all disposals of land and improvements must have some form of competitive process-that process will either be as part of the partnering agreement itself, or as part of the disposal of the property. It is anticipated that most partnering agreements which contemplate disposal of local government land or improvements would be competitively sought through such processes as requests for qualifications, requests for expressions of interest and/or requests for proposals. In addition to the other positive benefits of these processes, they will ensure that a property disposition to a potential partner will not be subject to a requirement for a public offering after months of negotiation with the potential partner.