Franklin auditor criticizes pending county land deal

A deal for Franklin County to reacquire land near TRAC in Pasco that it sold in 2006 is being called into question by County Auditor Matt Beaton.

Commissioners approved the move to get the land back from CMV Holdings at their Aug. 12 meeting. The county would take on land just south of the new My Place hotel, giving it a larger chunk of land when combined with property it still owns.

Chairman Brad Peck said commissioners were merely executing a clause in the 2006 agreement that allows the county to buy back the land if it is not developed within five years.

It is not a done deal, Peck added.

“That tentative agreement is not effective or final unless given final approval and signed by the board,” Peck told the Herald. “That action has not taken place.”

The agreement calls for the county to pay CMV $539,504 for the property, Beaton said. The county sold the land to CMV for $390,500 in 2006, according to the county assessor’s office. It is now valued at $460,100.

CMV is owned by Scott Musser, whose firm, Musser Bros., served as auctioneer when the county recently sold three parcels near the intersection of Burden Boulevard and Convention Drive. That auction brought in nearly $1 million.

Commissioner Rick Miller does not believe there was a conflict for Musser to buy the property, he said.

Beaton pleaded with commissioners to get an appraisal before buying the land back. It would amount to a gift of public funds because the county did not have information on the land’s value, he said. He wants an objective, market-based appraisal.

Beaton also questioned the purpose of the sale and why the commissioners haven’t discussed it in public. They have sometimes gone into executive session while talking about the matter during public meetings.

The state’s open meetings law allows closed-session real estate discussions only when public knowledge would drive up the land’s price.

“The public deserves a transparent open government,” Beaton said.

Peck responded that details of the proposal have yet to be made public because of ongoing negotiations and considerations.

Miller said Friday he wanted to table the vote for a week — before voting for the transaction — and now questions the decision to go ahead. He would like to see the land appraised.

“I think we really need to look at it,” he said.

Commissioners approved a land swap with Musser in December that would have given CMV adjacent land the county owns. But the landowners decided not to move forward, Peck said.

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Franklin auditor criticizes pending county land deal."