Water Utility Wants an Easement for a Pumping Station

[RBERNAL]

My question involves an easement in the state of: Texas

San Antonio Water system which is now the main Supplier to the city i live in wants to take 80' x 443.11' of the back end of my property and install a 48" Water Pipe that will be used to pull water from a pumping station in my area up to the north side of San Antonio They tell me the pipe will be under pressure @ 90 PSI all day every day after its installed and put to use.

My concern is that they want to offer only 90% of the value of the property ( Their Offer $5,711.00). Is it possible to receive amenities with a lease instead of a buy out?


Below Is the Letter Which was i received back after asking the following questions. His Responses are in Red.

I would really appreciate some type of help.I feel i have hit a brick wall and am unsure how to go about this or know what options i have. and i honestly feel that this company is just out to buy out everyone at a very cheap price or use Eminent Domain to snatch up the land if i do not agree.




Mr. X
I have received the Appraisal and have a few questions about the information printed. Below are my concerns.

As stated in the Bexar Country Appraisal District statement for the year of 2011, My Property which totals 4.5900 Acres is Valued @ $43,940.00 which is $9,572.98 per Acre.
In the appraisal which was sent only values the property @ $34,425.00 @ $7500.00 Per Acre which explains your offer of $5,711 @ 90% of $ 7,500.Why is there a decrease in the value on your appraisal?
I understand your concern about the difference between the Bexar Appraisal District value and the opinion of value given by the appraiser. Often times, the BAD will continue to raise or keep values on a property until a landowner contests the value at a hearing. The appraiser determines his opinion of value from sales of comparable properties as best as possible. Comparables are properties similar in size, location and features. In an area where there have not been many sales of comparable properties, the appraiser uses the best sales that he can find and then adjusts the values up or down to make them as comparable as possible. It may be that your property is valued too high for the current market. This is something that we can discuss at your convenience.

As a Tax payer in the Bexar County District, the offer of $5,700 is less than what was expected.
Will I still have to pay taxes on land worth $9,572.98 Per Acre? I feel that the yearly taxes on the easement you wish to obtain would not be fair to me if I would still have to pay taxes on that part of the property especially that I can never build on it or use it in the future. Will this lead to loss of value of my property?

Since you will still be the owner of the property, you will be responsible for payment of taxes of the entire property. I suggest that you use the appraisal provided to you to use as a tool to have your property taxes lowered due to the lower value as per the appraisal. The money paid to you is partly paid to you as compensation for the use of your property. There is a section in the appraisal that deals with the location of the easement and the loss of value to the property. In general, it has been determined that easements along the property line do not diminish the value of the total property.

And will it affect my property value if I ever decide to sell? I would like to come to an agreement on the cost of the property taxes on the easement and any cost lost in property value. I am also concerned about safety .In any case of pipe failure or breakage resulting in any disaster such as a flood or sinkholes, I would like to know that I have some type of coverage for both the property , myself, and my family as long as I reside on this property.

Many properties in city subdivisions and rural areas have easements crossing them. Properties with easements are bought and sold all the time. In general, the total property is considered when a buyer is looking to buy. Location, trees, amenities and infrastructure all determine whether a property is bought or sold.

The water line will be built to accepted standards and is expected to last for many years. There are many safeguards in place in the event of a breakage in the line. Those safeguards should prevent any major leakage of water. In any event, SAWS would make the necessary repairs and restore the land if necessary. SAWS does not provide any type of insurance for the landowner, but would do everything possible to make things right in the event of a water leak.

Once you have reviewed all the documents sent to you, please contact me so that we can discuss your concerns.

[landagent]

You haven't listed the other rights the water co document has in it but your rights remaining will always be subject to their's. You might just hold out and make them an offer to purchase the land, let them pay their own taxes, and if you need, ask them for an easement. By the way, I would expect you will need to pay taxes on whatever they pay you. That may be different if they take you to court. It generally cost somewhere between 10 and 20 thousand to condemn someone's property, plus the payment for the easement. My advice is to get a good lawyer, and not accept any agreement that is loaded with land rights they don't need now. Don't get in a hurry and don't be afraid of the word "condemnation". Good luck.

[RBERNAL]

Thanks For the Reply landagent. yea the docs i have are pages and pages long. I Mean Honestly i dont mind paying taxes as long as their price is right. Do you think i should just outright ask for a certain amount and how much is too much i mean they will be running water through this land and making Millions!! sorry about punctuation im in a rush out the door.

[landagent]

I would not be limited by their appraisal numbers. After all, you didn't list the property for sale. Also, their access along with their contractors will be an issue from now on. Read the document. Assignment to their successors not open assignment to who ever they want. Figure a price you can accept and stick to your price. The important stuff is in the document. Why is it 80 foot wide. Thats a lot. You could limit it to say 25 feet and then grant a temporary workspace easement during construction. Watch out for multiple pipelines or a mulitlpe pipeline clause. They don't need 80 feet for one pipeline. Make them define it. What it for, and what it will carry. I would not sign any document which called for an easement being "open and undefined". If that language is in the document I would tell them to condemn it. Oh, if you accept their money the next thing out of their mouth is " whats your social security number". Don't get in ahurry. If they don't like you taking your time tell them to move it just a little to your next door neighbor. You might want to check with your neighbor and see if they tried this with him/her/them. You can ask them if they will pay your attorney fees.

[jk]

their method of obtaining a value is incorrect. You need an appraisal of your property as it is and then adjusted for splitting off the land they seek. That is your true loss. You are not selling them your property. They want to purchase part of your lot which will devalue your remaining property. That is your loss, not the calculated value of the acreage.

[landagent]

I think the appraisals are just part of the game. We don't have a willing seller here. The appraisal sets a price and believe me the utility will gladly pay 5, 10, or 20% more than the appraisal. Its not the money. Its the document and the time. They want to build it now and don't want to wait for a condemnation to take place 2 or 3 months from now. Yes, and easement is not a sale but, if you have them wanting to construct now, they may accept a fee simple offer.
Having a water pipeline thats running at 90 psi is a lot better than a natural gas line running at 900 or higher when it comes to selling your property. It doesn't help. You do know you can't build on the easement and without a clause requiring the utility to either lower the pipe or add fill over the pipe, you can't cross it with heavy equipment or trucks. I still don't think they need 80 feet for a single pipeline. If you grant the easement, you will be paying the taxes on that area. After you grant the easement, your current survey, if you have one will be wrong. If you counteroffer make it 17 to 20k. They may pay it if it gets them working. They may have a contract with a pipeline construction company thats been told they could go to work. We don't know whats on your property or the location, but having this pipeline at the rear of your land is much better than having it go thru the middle or being at the front.

[RBERNAL]

Good point about the gas line but i wonder if they may try to put one in hence the size of the easement maybe for future use.

Its all Bare Open Land nothing built, I think i will definitely try to Counter Offer in that range. I would like to write this person back so everything is documented. Does that sound like a good idea to put $ in email like that ?

Thank You very much for the comments. Anything else will def be appreciated

[RBERNAL]

One more thing, Do you think it would be possible at all do to a Lease instead of a outright buyout?

Maybe you all are familiar with these types of thing and i thought i would just throw it out there incase anyone has heard of this being done.

Thanks Again for all your response's

[LandSurveyor]

I'm not sure about Texas, but in most states condemnation through eminent domain can only be used for the specific purpose of the project in question. So in your case, a court could only award an easement for the actual project brought before the court, i.e., the 48" high pressure water line and pumping station. That would limit future expansion without additional compensation.

Obviously the request for an 80' wide easement is going far beyond that concept, as previous posters have pointed out. They are chopping nearly an acre off the back of your property and my guess is that you will be lucky to plant a garden on it based on what they have probably asked you to sign.

As jk has pointed out, you need to determine the true loss of value to your property. You can get an appraiser of your own. Local attorneys are usually good sources for referrals to expert appraisers. I personally like to use a retired review appraiser from the state department of transportation. You will want that higher credibility appraisal when continuing your negotiations.

You can also hire a licensed civil engineer to give you a written opinion as to the width of the right of way necessary for the project. A letter stating that 20' or 25' might be enough could give you further negotiating leverage, as they cannot take more than necessary for the project. Unless you get it limited you may find additional pipelines, electric lines, fiber optic, whatever, without any additional compensation to you.

[landagent]

Well said and written LandSurveyor.
Regarding the lease question- They will not accept a lease arrangement unless it's for 99 years or so, even then, if it had any future rights at all in it could ripen into an easement.
Best to get it resolved now either by selling and you reserving an easement if you need to or granting them an easement on your terms for your price.
I would not put a lot of information or offers in emails to the land agent. If you wait a bit, I am sure he will call you.
If he is stopping by without an appointment tell him to leave and make an appointment.
Also, don't justify your counter offer. Along with a counter offer make sure you mention "with changes to their document". Once you start justifying your counter, your negotiating.