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Donner council delays ISD property purchase, orders independent appraisal
Summary
City council voted to table funding and purchase agreements for a former ISD property after members raised questions about the appraised price; council asked staff to obtain an independent appraisal and return with a timeline and documentation.
Donner — The Donner City Council on March 6 voted to delay final action on a funding agreement and a purchase-and-sale agreement tied to the proposed city acquisition of a former Independent School District property, citing questions about how the price was set.
Council members tabled two agenda items — the MDD funding agreement (agenda item 5) and the purchase-and-sale agreement (agenda item 6) — to the council's next meeting on March 20 and authorized staff to obtain an independent appraisal and a timeline of prior meetings and negotiations. The council voted to table both items and directed staff to compile documentation showing how the price was developed.
The district proposed funding in the amount of $358,934 for the city purchase of the property. Several council members raised concerns about the size of the discrepancy between that figure and the county's tax-assessed value and asked for clearer documentation of the appraisal process and any brokerage or commission arrangements. Council members also reported that the realtor who provided a property comparison earlier, Josh Long, had also served as the school district's broker, which prompted calls for an independent, formal appraisal rather than a comparative market analysis.
City staff said the MDD (Municipal Development District) would function as the financing mechanism and that the council’s action would finalize the city's portion of the transaction once those internal steps were complete. Council members requested a timeline of prior deliberations and any appraisal or comparative-market work that informed the proposed price.
The council’s tabling motions were procedural: one motion to table the funding agreement and one to table the purchase agreement, each rescheduled to March 20. Council members asked staff to return with an independent appraisal, the appraisal report in full if one already exists, and a written timeline of prior meetings and offers so the council and public could evaluate whether the proposed sale price matched standard market practice.
The council did not approve purchase or funding today. If the independent appraisal supports the price the city may resume consideration at the March 20 meeting; if not, council members signaled they might reopen negotiations or decline the purchase.
For now, the property remains under the district's control; the council directed staff to prepare a public summary of the documentation when it is available and to include the item on the March 20 agenda.
