The Morton School District bought nearly 124 acres of farmland for $4.4 million in 2013 to address future facilities needs. On Tuesday, the district sold the land back to the original owners for $2.8 million.
David and Susan Anderson and Michael and Christy Unzicker submitted the lone bid for the land after the district offered it for sale in August, and will reap a $1.6 million profit.
The district paid $35,192 per acre for the land a decade ago. It received $23,100 per acre in return after asking for a minimum bid of $22,000 per acre.
Superintendent Craig Smock said the price disparity is because the land was sold to the district as a possible place for a school, and it was sold by the district as farmland.
Tom Neeley is a link between the purchase and sale of the land, each approved unanimously by the School Board.
Neeley has been on the board since 1989, a span of 34 years, and is the only current board member who was on the board in 2013.
"The decision (to sell the land) really tugged at me," Neeley said Tuesday. "We were thinking of the future when we bought the land in 2013 after a very long search process.
"With the board deciding to improve our existing facilities over the last several years to provide the best opportunities for our students, the decision to sell the land couldn't be put off any longer. It was the right thing to do."
The Andersons and Unzickers continued to farm the land after selling it to the district. Smock said a provision in the district's purchase agreement required the district to rent the land to them in perpetuity.
The annual rent the district received varied from year to year based on factors like yield and the price of corn, "and I think it was in the neighborhood of $40,000 recently," Smock said.
The district plans to use the proceeds from the land sale for facilities projects.
