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Forsyth County officials briefed on $55,000 land purchase, $505,000 budget transfer for Ashley Elementary project
Summary
County staff and school-system representatives briefed county commissioners on a planned $55,000 purchase of a 0.13-acre parcel and a proposed $505,000 transfer from education capital project reserves to cover site and design costs for the new Ashley Elementary School; some commissioners objected to paying more than the property's tax value.
Forsyth County officials on Oct. 20 were briefed on a request from the Winston‑Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education to purchase a 0.13-acre parcel for $55,000 as part of the new Ashley Elementary School project and to amend the education capital projects ordinance to transfer $505,000 from a school budget reserve to the project.
County Deputy Finance Officer Lee Plunkett told commissioners the parcel is “a 0.13 acre vacant lot, and the purchase price is $55,000,” and described an accompanying ordinance amendment to move $505,000 from the 2023 two‑thirds general obligation bond budget reserve to cover the land purchase, $100,000 in construction administration fees and $350,000 in architect fees.
The transfer would leave about $16,500,000 in the 2023 bond budget reserve, Plunkett said. Daryl Walker, who answered technical questions on behalf of the school system, said the district had pursued the parcel for years and that buying it would avoid a costly retaining wall identified during design work.
“We actually been trying to pursue this property for a couple years,” Walker said. “When we got to looking through the design portion ... there’s a significant retaining wall that was gonna have to be built there. It made more sense to go ahead and purchase the property than to build the wall financially.”
Several commissioners questioned the price relative to tax records. One commissioner noted the county’s property tax record shows a 2020 sale price and tax value of $19,000 and asked whether closing and attorney fees were included in the $55,000 figure. Walker confirmed the $55,000 includes closing and attorney fees, saying “it’s like 50,000 for the land and 5,000 additional cost for services.”
That exchange prompted a sharper objection from another commissioner who said, “I have a little heartburn over the price ... I’m gonna have a hard time supporting spending over twice what its value is,” and suggested condemnation as an alternative route to secure the property. The county attorney cautioned that condemnation could require outside counsel, appraisals and other expenses and “could run up, you know, several tens of thousands, possibly.”
Walker and school‑system supporters argued that acquiring the parcel would advance a long‑sought school project in East Winston and could be financially preferable to the retaining wall. “I think ... it’s well worth $25,000 to make sure that we put a new Ashley in East Winston as soon as possible since we’ve waited on it for over at least 10 years,” said one commissioner who referenced prior work on the school by Commissioner Martin.
Plunkett and Walker said the district does not need the parcel to build the school but that acquisition reduces project costs related to site grading and retaining structures. Plunkett said the project team plans to bring a guaranteed maximum price to the school board and the county in January or February, with bidding to follow.
No formal vote was taken at the Oct. 20 briefing; the items will be scheduled for consideration at the regular meeting on Oct. 23.
Background details in the briefing noted that state law requires county approval before a board of education purchases land and that the funds proposed to be transferred to the Ashley project come from the county’s 2023 two‑thirds GO bond education reserve.
