County Officials Question Farm Program

Farm auction under scrutiny
By: DANIELLE CAMILLI Burlington County Times

When the Burlington County Board of Freeholders auctioned off eight preserved farms last month, the sales generated more than the professional estimate.

The auction, and the funds it raised, however, came under scrutiny Wednesday at the board's meeting as its members voted to authorize acceptance of the winning bids and execute the contracts of sale.

Freeholder Mary Anne Reinhart either abstained or voted no on each of eight resolutions. Her fellow Democrat, Freeholder Chris Brown, joined her in voting against two of the bids.

He questioned whether the bids were high enough to warrant the sale of the parcels. Brown said he would have liked to see additional appraisals on the properties to better determine the value of the land now that it is deed restricted and cannot be developed.

The bids, however, were accepted by a majority vote.
The county purchased the eight farms, with a total of 715 acres, for nearly $16.7 million. Last month, it sold the land with deed restrictions that prohibit development unrelated to agriculture for about $3.5 million at the public auction.

County officials set confidential minimum bids for each and then auctioned them to the highest bidder. The minimum bids were set after considering the appraised values of the deed-restricted farms, which were assessed at the time the county purchased them, officials said. The county also consulted with farmland and real-estate professionals to come up with the number.

Most were sold for more than the minimum bid, but the county did accept two under the threshold. Brown and Reinhart voted against accepting those bids. Reinhart abstained on the other six contracts.

Brown said he didn't think the county should be buying land for $6 million and selling it at auction for about $625,000, as was the case for the former Pettit Farm in Pemberton Township.

He said determining the value of the land once the development rights are removed "seems to be subjective rather than empirical. I think we could have received more funds."

Reinhart also took issue with the properties that were sold for less than the minimum. She said she feared the county was "not getting top dollar" for the land because of the recession in the real estate market.

Reinhart, who took office in January with Brown, also said she did not have a full understanding of the program and wanted more information.

County officials have said the bids that didn't meet the minimum were only slightly lower.
Freeholder Jim Wujcik said he was confident the county was fairly compensated.
"We relied on the best information from our professionals," he said. "+An open, public auction is the best indicator of what the market would bear."

Freeholder Bill Haines agreed, adding it was never the goal of the program, and specifically the auction, for the county to recoup its cost for the land purchases. The land has a lower value because it no longer can be developed.

He also said that, unlike the fluctuating value of home prices in the economy, farmland assessments do not change drastically.

In addition, Haines said there are other benefits to the sale, including returning the properties to the tax rolls, making the land productive again and turning over maintenance to private owners. In addition, the proceeds of the auction are returned to the county's farmland preservation program and used for additional acquisitions.

"I'm entirely satisfied we achieved all of our program visions," Haines said.
Last month's auction was the second the county has held. In 2006, the freeholders sold six farms totaling 964 acres for $6.5 million.

Email: dcamilli@phillyBurbs.com
March 12, 2009