Madison Sells Land Below Market Rate
Madison County Board Votes to Sell Land Below Appraised Value for Disability Center
The Madison County Board of Supervisors agreed Nov. 2 to sell a 3.35-acre county tract at a discount to help fund a community center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
At the board's regular meeting, a supervisor identified in meeting records as Dyson told fellow members the parcel had been appraised at $675,000. "We agreed to purchase it at $250,000 per acre, which means the county will donate $425,000," the supervisor said, adding that the final decision rested with "Mr. Bill" and that a resolution would be submitted authorizing the board, led by a president identified as Steen, to sign documents selling the property to Sun Valley or the Baptist Church.
The land, located near Kroger in Canton, would go to Sun Valley, a facility operated by Baptist Homes Incorporated, for use as a center serving adults with disabilities.
The arrangement amounts to the county effectively donating roughly $425,000 in public land value to a private nonprofit, a pattern of below-market public asset sales to private entities that draws scrutiny in Mississippi regardless of the recipient's mission.