The purchase price of a flood-prone property was a matter of debate at Tuesday’s Pima County Board of Supervisor’s meeting.
“I find it very questionable that two appraisers can find it at $650,000 — that was the market value,” Supervisor Ally Miller said.
The property is at 3232 E. River Road, near East Roger Road. It’s a collection of three parcels totaling a little more than 8 acres.
Supervisors agreed to pay St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church $931,000 for the undeveloped land.
A county appraisal for the property set the market value of the land at about $850,000.
Miller, however, provided the board an appraisal done for the church in September 2014 that estimated the value of the property at $650,000.
“My question is why are we paying $931,000 for land that was appraised at $650,000?” Miller asked at Tuesday’s meeting.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the sale price was set after negotiations with the church.
“The $850,000 offer was given to the church,” Huckelberry said.
The offer was turned down.
The approved sale price was what both sides ultimately settled upon.
Huckelberry noted the church paid $1.25 million for the property in 2008.
Supervisor Richard Elias noted appraised values and actual sale prices are not always aligned.
“That’s not uncommon in terms of negotiating with landowners,” Elias said.
Miller requested the board hold off approving the purchase of the property so the alternative appraisal could be reviewed.
Her request failed for lack of a second from other board members.
Miller cast the only vote against the purchase.
Funding for the purchase comes from the county’s flood control district budget.
The only building on the property is a home built in the 1950s.
Huckelberry said the area lies in a floodplain and would have required extensive work to remove it from flooding hazard from the Rillito River.
It also stands adjacent to the county’s Loop bicycle and walking trail system that lines many of the region’s rivers and washes.
The property lies within the larger Binghampton Rural Historic Landscape area, which was first developed in the 1890s by Mormon settlers.
