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Dear Readers:
If you are a public school and decide to sell land, either because you don't need the land anymore or because you need the proceeds of sale to finance construction or other school or college operations, here are a few more tips, all of which were inspired by serious mistakes talented professionals made. Selling land for a public school or junior college is very different from doing so for any other political subdivision.
First, never propose to sell land without declaring the purpose of the sale. For example, selling land to finance new costly construction is a legitimate reason. Selling land because the students are located in a different part of the District than they were previously is similarly legitimate. Selling land because of enormous upturn in value in and of itself, however, is not legitimate and suggests that speculation was a primary reason for the sale. While that is rarely a true motivating factor for a school district to acquire land, make certain that your declaration of intent to offer for sale makes clear what your legitimate current school district needs are. This will prevent a great deal of unnecessary criticism.
Second (and there are no exceptions to this rule), you must obtain a certified independent appraisal of value for the land. You cannot sell the land for a price lower than that appraised value. You also cannot sell the land if the appraisal is more than 180 days old on the date of sale. 180 days may seem like a lot of time, but it will pass quickly if the land involved is a large tract and inspections and engineering reports are required by the buyer.
Third, try and not sell the minerals. Even if you think that the minerals will never amount to anything, we are now in yet another unprecedented boom where school districts that reserved their mineral rights are enjoying unexpected revenues. It is normally not necessary to convey mineral rights to give a full right of use to a surface owner. Make sure that you understand how to do this and word your contract of sale appropriately.
In your every professional adventure, we wish you the very best.
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This information is
provided by Laura S. Fowler, Attorney at Law with
The Fowler Law Firm PC. It is not intended as a
substitute for careful review by legal counsel of
your choosing. We would be most honored to assist
you in your every real legal need.
Contact Laura
Fowler at lfowler@thefowlerlawfirm.com
or
call (512) 441-1411.
As with any legal
issues, please consult your attorney with
questions.
