On February 17, 2026, the Board voted on the actual sale of County-owned property at 0 Hillidge Street.

Authorization to advertise the public hearing was previously granted. This agenda item represented the final step — approval of the sale itself.

The offer before the Board was $60,000.

My comment focused on valuation transparency.

Over the past two years, the assessed value appears to have declined from approximately $75,000 to $49,000 — a roughly one-third drop during a period when many other properties were increasing in value.

The $60,000 sale price sits:

• About 21% below the 2024 assessed value
• About 21% above the 2025 assessed value

The fluctuation alone raises questions.

More importantly, I had not seen a documented fair market appraisal in the public materials—only tax assessment figures.

Tax assessments are not appraisals.

When disposing of public land — particularly a parcel that:

• Has utilities available
• Sits within town limits
• Includes nearby infrastructure
• And is directly adjacent to the buyer

…the valuation question becomes more than academic.

Adjacency can substantially increase value for a neighboring owner.

My concern was not about blocking the sale.

It was about ensuring that the public record reflects a clear, documented market justification before final approval.

When public assets are sold, clarity protects everyone involved.

Even when the difference may only be a few thousand dollars.

Because those dollars are not private.

They belong to the public.

Transcript

0:00 Good evening, supervisors. Madam Chair,
0:02 my name is Lewis Moten from the North
0:04 River District. Um, I talked about this
0:07 back in January 8th when I saw it, the
0:10 authorization for the advertisement to
0:12 come up. Um, there’s a problem I have
0:16 with the pricing for the past two years.
0:18 I think it was like $75,000
0:21 that was assessed at and then it dropped
0:24 down 35%
0:26 down to uh no 34% down to 49,000 when
0:30 everybody else was kind of going up. Um
0:33 the offer is 60,000 which is 21% below
0:36 the 2024 value and 21% above the 2025
0:43 value. So, um, there’s an an adjacency
0:47 concern here because it’s right right
0:49 down there the by the the buyer is
0:52 actually right next door to it. And I
0:54 raised at that time that there where was
0:56 the fair market value appraisal? All I
0:58 saw was the tax assessment. So, I’m here
1:01 again there’s no appraisal. So,
1:04 that that’s my concern here is I think
1:06 we’re we’re losing out on something here
1:09 where it’s more valuable to the person
1:11 right next to that lot. It’s got a fire
1:14 hydrant. All utilities are right there
1:16 in town. So, that is um that’s my
1:19 concern. I think I think we’re we’re
1:21 losing a few bucks off of this deal.
1:24 Thanks.