Report: sugar land not worth $1.3-billion

An independent financial adviser hired by the state says the land U.S. Sugar wants to sell for Everglades restoration is worth $930-million -- not the $1.3-billion price tag that the state and the sugar company announced last week.

All of U.S. Sugar’s holdings -- all 187,000 acres of its land, plus its sugar mill, its railroad and its citrus operation -- would be worth $1.3-billion, according to the Nov. 13 letter to the water board from Duff & Phelps, the board’s New York-based financial adviser. Read the letter.

U.S. Sugar vice president Bob Coker (pictured) called the financial adviser “Huey, Dewey & Louie,” (after Donald Duck’s cartoon nephews) and said the firm “probably shouldn’t be licensed to work in Florida.”

That valuation was done for a business deal that’s not currently on the table,” he said. State officials said they're still working on making sure the deal is a good one for the taxpayers.

--Craig Pittman

Comments

Poor Robert.

we dont we just take it.

[Alaska dumps Felon Senator]

Alaska Republican Senator Stevens loses re-election bid to Democrat Begich, AP reports.

(Dumping Republicans is becoming very popular)

[CHarlie doesnt know his elbow from his a$s hole]

wow, you mean charlie doesnt understand how to get a good deal for the state, and got ripped off by big sugar.....what a shocker!!! Its always nice to waste a few extra couple hundred million especially when we are facing a huge budget shortfall

The Times cracks me up. First of all, Duff and Phelps does not do this type of appraisal (at least not in Florida) so how their opinion has any credibility is beyond me. Secondly, this is old news. Third, they were hired by the Water Mgt District, not the state as the Times indicates.

Finally "the land US Sugar wants to sell" - can you be any more biased against this deal? How about phrasing is like "the land the State wants to buy" for Everglades restoration?

Duff & Phelps doesn't do this kind of work. Heck, I can send the board a letter saying the land is worth half a billion and the Times would probably write a story about it.

Well if anyone is going to get a huge bailout payday, I'd rather it be Robert Coker than some GM exec. At least Coker is fun to be around and has a great personality.

Is U.S. Sugar represented by Dewey, Cheatem & Howe?

[Conservatives giving our tax dollars away to their Corporate cronies]

10:36 Why not be even more correct by just calling it a bailout? The idea that it's "restoration" is a joke. Let it sit and run up taxes while US Sugar goes bust, then scoop it up for next to nothing and use the 1.3B for real restoration. Nope, this is neocon corporate welfare plain and simple, brought to you by the same GOP that wrecked our economy.

1) Get rid of the sugar subsidy; 2) watch big sugar fail; 3) watch big sugar fail to pay its taxes; 4) watch the state get the land at a tax sale.

Like AIG and Enron, US Sugar's profits came as a result of Government legislation which was essentially a subsidy.

Coker is a cocky pig. He has bought many legislators.

[Paul]

If US Sugar is smart,they would Pay the State go get away from these idiots in Tallahassee.

Just like EX Governor Bush, Charlie is throwing our State into the dumpster.

Save the everglades? Hell, Save the schools and public services Etc.

Why do we subsidize an industry that produces a substance that causes more health problems than cigarettes?

Why are we spending more than a billion dollars to buy land in order to stop pollution when we could pass laws for no cost that could also require U.S. Sugar to stop pollution from leaving their property?

How are we going to raise the money to buy the land at a time tax revenues are plunging?

Why is it that U.S. Sugar viciously attacks an appraisal when it points out the obvious fact that the land is worth less than $1.3 billion?

NO MORE BAILOUTS!!

[Andrew Allan]

Amen, 10:36.

All of you who think the price tag is high, wander out of town a bit and stop in at the first orange grove or tomato field owner's house you see and offer him 5 grand for an acre of his land. Then come back here and tell us what he said.

10:36 - a.k.a. Coker....

I say we wait until US Sugar is prohibited from doing anything on that land and then talk turkey...

Wow. This is such a shocker. NOT. Charlie Crist is inept and shouldn't be allowed to govern the state of Florida. The idiots in Tallahassee are going to finish the financial ruin of this state. But I guess as long as they can 'balance their budget' by raiding the reserves it won't matter. After all, it won't be their problem to worry about with respect to paying them back. Pathetic.

As usual Andrew Allen manages to incorporate an obtuse fallacy into his neo-con blather. An orange grove or tomato farm is producing a valuable crop without significant pollution. The US Sugar land is a chemical wasteland slated for cleanup. We can wait them out and allow the fines and taxes to pile up, then see how much the cesspool they've created is worth.

[LittleBro]

9:07 - don't pay so much attention to the guy who now calls himself Andrew Allan. He's a troll traveling the blogs under different aliases who enjoys saying stupidities to see the reaction. He has never said a thing that makes any logical sense so don't expect him to start now. Just let him rant - so far he's harmless and not a lot of people think he's as wise as he thinks he is.

The sugarland is worth precisely what someone is willing to pay for it. And someone above has the right answer - enforce the anti-pollution laws and THEN talk about buying the land.

By the way, donny - I've talked to several farmers who said they'd LOVE to get a deal like the state is offering sugar for bottom land that is useless for anything else. Five thousand an acre? Most of that land has a negative value for anything other than a park. But, of course and as usual, you have no idea what you are talking about, have not bothered to check any facts and amuse yourself spouting nonsense.

09:07 and 10"04 - THERE's my buddy! Isn't it a beautiful day? This is why we live in Florida, is it not? Go have a nice p**p and then come back when you feel better.

[LittleBro]

Donny - I've been enjoying the day since the sun came up.

Rather than a "p**p" for you, I'd suggest ... well, you know. And then go hit the books and come back when you are better informed.

[Andrew Allan]

10:04 - You wouldn't know a farmer if one came up and bit you on the butt. You guys are just full of indigestion because a republican came up with a plan to make himself look greener than Mother Earth News. But I digress. YOU, on the other hand are ALSO quite green...with ENVY! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

10:04 It appears that you hit the nail on the head. The troll will adopt any position just to try to be an annoyance. Hey, you can't be any more conservative than that!

[Andrew Allan]

Green, green Charlie Crist.
Makes the Dems have a fit.

Whine and cry, thought they may.
Obama himself said Chuck's OK!

Folks are so jeolous of the Gov. All you haters go away, way away.

Haters haters go away, please come back another day.

That land is so polluted, it is highly likely to be near worthless.