State audit questions Farmville property deals

FARMVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - An investigative audit says it found several problems with recent property deals involving the Town of Farmville.

State Auditor Beth Wood released results of the audit this morning, saying the town paid too much in a deal for its temporary library and didn’t get fair consideration in a property swap for the fire department.

In 2017, the town swapped its existing fire station downtown for property on May Boulevard. The auditor said the town under-appraised the fire station while overvaluing the new location. The report says the town “likely incurred an economic loss of at least $108,000 and up to $268,000.” While the property has been swapped, construction on the new fire station has yet to begin.

Two years later, the town agreed to rent a part of the old railroad depot as its library location as a new building was under construction. The agreement said in return for the town paying no rent, it would build a parking lot at the depot for the owner and that afterward the lot could be used for public parking.

The audit said it cost Farmville $330,585 to build the lot, or $18,000 a month for the year and a half rent. The town manager had said a rental rate for a similar building would have been between $5,000 and $6,000 a month, the audit said.

The audit pointed out that there are no signs at the parking lot which say it is available for public parking.

Both the fire department property and the old depot are owned by the same person, according to the audit.

In its response to the audit, Farmville said in the future it will be more careful to pursue leases that are more economical for the town and it will seek out additional professional appraisals when similar land transfers are contemplated.

You can read the audit in its entirety here.

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