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Kenai Peninsula Borough lands committee reviews ordinance to clear title on tax-foreclosed property
Summary
The borough lands committee heard an introduction to Ordinance 2025-02, which staff say would allow the state to issue a patent to the Kenai Peninsula Borough after the borough files a quitclaim deed to the current owner to cure a cloud on title stemming from a 1970 tax foreclosure involving U.S. Department of the Interior land.
At 4:15 p.m., the Kenai Peninsula Borough lands committee met to introduce Ordinance 2025-02, an item intended to resolve a decades-old title issue arising from a 1970 tax foreclosure on property once owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The committee heard from borough staff member Mr. Hughes, who described the chronology in the ordinance and said the state has indicated it will issue a patent to the Kenai Peninsula Borough if the borough executes a quitclaim deed to the current property owner, who is the surviving spouse of the original purchaser. "This is an interesting one for sure," Mr. Hughes said, summarizing the events that produced the cloud on title and the state condition for issuing a patent.
According to Mr. Hughes, the sequence began in 1970 when the borough created a tax statement on property owned by the Department of the Interior. Because the Department of the Interior, as a federal entity, did not pay those taxes, the property entered tax foreclosure and was later sold at a foreclosure sale to a third-party purchaser. The borough and state subsequently took steps in the mid-1980s related to selection and conveyance; Mr. Hughes referred to a state selection in about 1985 and noted the matter has been awaiting final resolution for several decades.
Mr. Hughes told the committee that the state's willingness to issue a patent is contingent on the borough's agreement to file a quitclaim deed in favor of the surviving spouse of the original purchaser so that the titles can be merged and the cloud on title cured. He described the proposal as a "unique" situation and offered to answer questions from the committee.
No formal motion, vote or final committee action on the ordinance was recorded in the transcript. The lands committee chair (identified in the meeting as Aaron) opened and closed the committee meeting after the presentation; Brandy (identified in the record by first name) was asked briefly to assist in covering the item. The committee did not record a vote in the available transcript excerpt; the ordinance was introduced for committee consideration and staff provided the explanation required for members to assess next steps.
The item references a prior hearing on Feb. 4 and a long-running administrative history; staff characterized the chain of events as complex and atypical. Committee members did not, in the provided record, request additional formal actions or amendments. The committee adjourned the lands committee meeting after the presentation.
