Short answer. Yes. Rule 67, Section 10 gives the government the right to enter the property after tender of the compensation fixed by the judgment. If you decline to receive the amount tendered, the rule requires it to be deposited in court, and that deposit has the same effect as actual payment to you.
What the law says
Upon payment by the plaintiff to the defendant of the compensation fixed by the judgment, with legal interest thereon from the taking of the possession of the property, or after tender to him of the amount so fixed and payment of the costs, the plaintiff shall have the right to enter upon the property expropriated and to appropriate it for the public use or purpose defined in the judgment
Rule 67, Section 10 — Rights of plaintiff after judgment and payment. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the defendant and his counsel absent themselves from the court, or decline to receive the amount tendered, the same shall be ordered to be deposited in court
Rule 67, Section 10 — Rights of plaintiff after judgment and payment. Read the full provision →
What the law says
such deposit shall have the same effect as actual payment thereof to the defendant or the person ultimately adjudged entitled thereto
Rule 67, Section 10 — Rights of plaintiff after judgment and payment. Read the full provision →
What Rule 67, Section 10 provides
Rule 67, Section 10 addresses exactly this sequence in an expropriation case: "Upon payment by the plaintiff to the defendant of the compensation fixed by the judgment, with legal interest thereon from the taking of the possession of the property, or after tender to him of the amount so fixed and payment of the costs, the plaintiff shall have the right to enter upon the property expropriated and to appropriate it for the public use or purpose defined in the judgment."
Tender, on its own, is enough
The right to enter and appropriate the property does not depend on you actually accepting the money — the article gives the plaintiff, the party expropriating, that right "after tender to him of the amount so fixed and payment of the costs." Tender means the amount was offered; whether the landowner actually took it is a separate question the article addresses next.
What happens specifically when you decline the tendered amount
The article addresses your exact situation directly: "If the defendant and his counsel absent themselves from the court, or decline to receive the amount tendered, the same shall be ordered to be deposited in court." Refusing the compensation does not leave the process stuck — it triggers a deposit of the tendered amount with the court instead of leaving it with you.
Why the deposit works the same as payment to you
The rule closes the loop with a deeming clause: "such deposit shall have the same effect as actual payment thereof to the defendant or the person ultimately adjudged entitled thereto." Once the tendered amount is deposited in court, the law treats that as though you had actually been paid, for the purpose of the plaintiff's right to enter and take possession of the property. Declining the money changes where it sits, not whether the government can proceed.