Let me see if I have this right. I own a piece of property about 1.5 acres in Pinellas County and it has been appraised at about $54,000. That should send off a red signal right there! Then the county comes in and clears the creek that runs through my property and cleans up the lot so I put it on sale for $400,000. Of course, no one in their right mind will buy it so I try something different. I have my attorney send a letter to the county that they should buy my property, that they have destroyed, and I will let them have it for $225,000. Since the county attorney is a friend of mine, I will have her represent me and the county since her salary is paid by the taxpayer. That way I will save attorney fees and the deal can go through faster. It probably helps that I, also, happen to be the County Tax Appraiser and the taxpayer pays my salary, too. What amazes me is that someone has a problem with this. After all, I was just trying to save the county an expensive lawsuit because everyone jumped when I had my attorney send them a letter, and I saved the county money by using the County Attorney Susan Churuti to represent the county and me. At lease, it saved my attorney fees. 1
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho is hoping the proposed sale of three state-owned backcountry ranches to the U.S. Forest Service will kickstart a $50 million "Land Legacy Trust" announced by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter last year, aimed at protecting ranches, timberland and wildlife habitat. 2
Official sealed bid forms and envelopes can be obtained by contacting the DNR Land Sale Representive via email at LandSale@dnr.state.mn.us or phone at 651-259-5432. The opening of the sealed bids is open to the public, and will take place at the DNR Central Office 4th floor Conference Room at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2008. Property data sheets describing these 13 parcels are posted below as PDF documents. 3
The land is part of collateral for the company’s loan with Citywide Banks. The outstanding balance of the loan is about $4.7 million, and the land as well as the building and fixtures at the Scott’s Liquid Gold headquarters secure the loan. Citywide has approved the sale of the land free of its lien based on several conditions: $700,000 of the proceeds will be used to reduce the principal of the loan, and $400,000 will be put aside in a reserve account to be applied to future loan payments. 4
???I am delighted to support the sale of city-owned land to help create the Media Production Center for Columbia College. We are proud to have this leading educational institution expand into the South Loop in the Third Ward. With this facility, Columbia will be able to meet the educational needs of our future filmmakers and visual artists,??? said Alderman Pat Dowell. ???I continue to work with Columbia to assure minority hiring and contracting for this project, provide community access to the facility and address parking needs.??? 5
The project includes both retail and residential space that is empty except for Wilkes-Barre Movies 14 and two small restaurants. Like other property sales, the deal has been slowed by disruptions in the lending markets, Vonderheid said.“We’ll really be able to talk to the community” about the chamber’s new direction once that sale is completed. One significant shift will be to leave industrial development to the private sector.“We’re getting close to being out of the land business,” Vonderheid said. 6