By JUDSON BERGER
Capital News Service

ANNAPOLIS - There is no guarantee that the planned purchaser of
state preservation land in St. Mary's County will donate it back
to the state as arranged, lawmakers were told Tuesday.
General Services Secretary Boyd Rutherford told the Senate
Budget and Taxation Committee that the "benefactor," under fire
regarding a plan to purchase the land from the state at cost, had
approached him in mid-2003 to arrange a transaction.
After they settled on the 836-acre parcel of land in question,
he said, the state purchased the parcel within a larger deal,
under the assumption that much of it would be returned after it
was sold to the benefactor.
But no contractual demand was made that the buyer actually give
back the land because the donor could suffer tax consequences,
according to Rutherford.
"We don't know, with any degree of certainty, what the purchaser
intends to do with the property," said Warren Deschenaux,
director of the Office of Policy Analysis in the Department of
Legislative Services, who also testified Tuesday.
He said the buyer, who reportedly intends to also donate a
portion of the land to St. Mary's for schools, stands to reap a
number of tax benefits.
Rutherford and Deschenaux endured a salvo of questions from
state senators concerned that, though some trust the buyer's
word, the buyer could change his mind and not return the land.
"Once this is out of our hands, it's gone," said Sen. Patrick
Hogan, D-Montgomery.
"I think it's a good transaction," said Rutherford after his
testimony. "But I will talk to the governor with regard to the
comments."
The governor's office could not be reached for comment.
The state, argued George Maurer, of the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, would look out for the public interest better than a
private owner.
Last week, the Baltimore Sun reported the benefactor, who
Rutherford still refuses to name, as Willard Hackerman, executive
of a contracting company, a political donor and ally of
Comptroller William Donald Schaefer.
Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, D-Baltimore, defended Hackerman saying
he is a generous man and has helped a lot with the development of
Baltimore City.
The state had planned to sell the land for $2.5 million, the
same price it paid for the land originally.  Critics charge the
land should be reappraised, since it could be worth more, and
Rutherford said an independent appraisal will be conducted.
In a letter to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich and other officials dated
Oct. 12, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert,
and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, questioned the
proposed sale.
"Selling this tract for the same price for which it is bought,
could be a significant financial loss to the state," the letter
said.
The letter continued, "there is no guarantee that some portion
of the land will not be developed in the future. Since this
includes areas which are in the top third of ecological value,
this proposal represents a significant risk to natural resource
values in the region."
There is no guarantee, either, said Democratic St. Mary's Sen.
Roy P. Dyson that part of the purchase will be donated to the
county for schools. And even if the land is donated, he said,
that parcel is at high risk of flooding and would not be very
useful.
"We have a critical need for (schools), just as every other
place does," he said. But he said this transaction would not be
ideal, and should be rejected by the Board of Public Works."