A report given to Greater Napanee Council is showcasing some gaping holes in the way they have sold surplus municipal land.
On January 26, council received a report from Toronto firm KPMG, which focused on surplus properties sold between January 2010, and last October.
They looked at numerous factors, including how activity on a property, repeat purchasers, public interest, the sale price versus property value, conflict of interest and more.
Ten of the 24 properties were highlighted for one reason or another.
One sale at 32 Oke Road was for $10,100, when the property was valued at $176,000, about six percent of evaluation.
MORE BELOW
The report indicates it was sold to former Napanee Mayor Gord Schermerhorn.
An article in 2019 in The Kingstonist indicated Schermerhorn sold the property a short time later for $100,000.
In total, seven properties went for either under 20 percent, or above 120 percent of evaluation.
Two properties sold for $2.
KPMG offered numerous recommendations to the municipality moving forward, and you can read the full report by CLICKING HERE
HERE ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS
– Council guidance should be obtained and followed for selecting the method of appraisal. A list of independent agents (providing appraisals) should be maintained and utilized.
– All appraisals performed should be maintained on file. Council direction for market appraisals should be adhered to and all appraisals should be brought back to Council for further direction.
– The advertisement and communication process for sale of surplus properties should be strengthened. The advertisements should clearly document (with civic address descriptions, pictures, other facts) property details to augment buyer interest.
– There should be a process and consistency in how long each property is advertised.All advertisements should comply with the Public Notice By-law.
– The process for calculating bid deposit amounts should be streamlined and documented.
– There should be a formalized time frame for when the property is declared surplus and when it is listed for sale.
– The rationale for selecting a specific property to list for sale should be documented and presented to Council in a public report. The clauses in the tender document should indicate that the Town reserves the right to refuse any or all proposals and that the lowest cost of proposal will not necessarily be selected.
– All supporting documentation pertaining to the sale of the property (including bids received) should be maintained on file.A structured criteria for evaluating bids and proposals should be established (for example, price, use of property, value to Town etc.).
– A reserve bid (the minimum amount that the Town will accept as the winning bid) should be established and approved by Council. The reserve price prevents a bidder who offers a price lower than what the Town will accept from winning the tender.
– A procedural guide and a checklist should be developed to ensure all critical aspects of the By-law are complied with. Council should forward all queries relating to the land sale process to the concerned staff and remove themselves from the operational proceedings. The compliance certificate is currently discretionary in the current By-law. In 10 of 10 samples, it was noted that a compliance certificate was not issued. Council should consider mandating the issuance of a certificate following the completion of surplus land sales to confirm that the applicable by-law and procedures were followed.
– Build trust in the community and transparency in the process by providing relevant property details in public Council reports.
– Consider additional review of the following properties:
-313 Belleville Road
-32 Oke Road
-Heritage Park
