Court values land at 4 times St. Joseph County’s offer

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A St. Joseph County official said he’s surprised a 37-acre tract in New Carlisle the county hopes to buy has been valued by court-appointed appraisers at more than four times what the county offered its owner.

St. Joseph County officials offered a farmer $344,000 for the property near a power plant that’s under construction. But the South Bend Tribune reported three court-appointed appraisers recently valued the land at $1.4 million.

County economic development director Bill Schalliol says he’s surprised by the appraisers’ “wildly different” value for the property.

Their valuation was part of the county’s eminent domain case against the farmer to try to force him to sell the land for a planned rail spur that would serve an industrial park planned in the area.

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