Auctioned school buildings sold for $1.8 million less than county valuations

The Greenville School District just auctioned two of its old school buildings - selling the old Gettysburg Elementary for $49,000, while North School sold for $42,000. But if you look at the Darke County Auditor's official website, these sale prices are a small fraction of the county-appraised values.

According to the county records (which have not been modified since the sale), the Board of Education owned a 5.203 acre tract on Auld Street in Gettysburg, ID A05-4-310-25-02-02-11100. This is Gettysburg Elementary - and the county-appraised values for this property are:

Land $68,600

Building(s) $947,500

Total value $1,016,100

The Board of Education is also still listed as owner of 214 North Main Street in Greenville, ID F27-2-212-34-01-01-10500. This is North School - and its county-appraised values are:

Land $111,100

Building(s) $790,100

Total value $901,200

So according to the county, the school district just auctioned off $1.9 million worth of real estate - and received $91,000 (or a little less than 5%). And congratulations to the buyer who got a million-dollar property for $42,000!

But don't blame the school district - as the purest measure of fair market value is determined by what property brings at auction. If those two properties brought $91,000 at auction, then - by definition - that's the fair market value.

The real question that needs to be asked is: what was the basis for these insane overinflated county appraisals?