Eminent domain has always been one of those sticky issues that puts to the forefront the battle between property ownership rights and the needs of the public for the greater good. You see, eminent domain is basically the ability for the government to buy your stuff (most often land) so they can use it to build bigger stuff. People are perhaps most familiar with the concept when the state wants to build a road or dam – eminent domain is used to purchase the land from an owner even if they don’t want to sell, so long as the purchase price is fair market value.
Ah, but this process has become somewhat perverted over the years. Now the public good is obvious when we are talking about a power plant or stadium, but lately the trend has been to convert blighted or near blighted neighborhoods into shopping centers or civic areas. A good can be argued, but often times developers push strong for lower appraisals so that they don’t have pay as much to snatch up the land. Because these property owners, by their inherent nature, are poor, it is unlikely that they will fight it in court and developers, ultimately, get to bully hard working people.
That is where Craig Frank’s (R-Cedar Hills-District 57) HB 210 – Eminent Domain Modifications, comes into play.
This bill basically states that if a judge rules that an appraisal is unreasonably low, the property owner does not have to pay for the inevitable court costs associated with fighting the case (the exact number is if the judge rules the property is worth more than 5% of the appraisal). So, if my property and land is worth $100,000 and the government says it is worth $80,000, I wouldn’t have to pay for the court fees associated with fighting the case, presuming that the judge agreed to the $100,000 price tag.
All of this is done to protect the little guy who can’t afford to fight on their own and ensures that things stay on the up and up; this bill is good policy.
