With controversy building over the Jindal administration’s plans to sell a 17-lot tract on the grounds of the State Capitol, the head of the legislative committee that will take up the issue next week says he doesn’t think lawmakers on that committee will approve the deal—at least, not yet.
“My guess is there is no widespread support for that among the committee,” says Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield, who heads the Senate Natural Resources Committee. “In talking to other senators, they feel the same way I do.”
Long’s committee is scheduled to meet jointly with a House committee Thursday to consider transferring the property—formerly the site of the Department of Insurance building, since razed—to the Division of Administration, which could then sell it.
The Jindal administration has said it wants to put the property back into commerce, and had estimated it would net $5 million from the sale. But some lawmakers and others are questioning the decision to sell one of the few remaining, open parcels on the Capitol grounds, especially for an unspecified purpose to a private developer.
“A lot of people have a vested interest in this because it is such a special piece of property,” Long says.
Also raising questions are two widely disparate appraisals the state has had done: one that values the property at $2.8 million; another, done earlier this year, at $4.9 million. Michael DiResto, a spokesman for the Division of Administration, says the administration will likely seek a third appraisal to try to resolve the differences. In the meantime, he justifies the decision to put the property back into commerce.
“It’s certainly not in the taxpayer’s interest for state government to hold on to property that’s being underutilized,” DiResto says. “Our goal is to return it to productive use while getting the highest possible return on the sale.”
