A top Pulaski County official is raising the alarm about a Somerset land deal that he expects to close Monday, concerned it is using $1.3 million of state funding to buy property from a GOP official at more than three times its cost from two years ago.
The Kentucky General Assembly appropriated $8.5 million in this year’s session to go to the Center for Rural Development for a regional training center. Based in Somerset, the nonprofit is closely tied to 23-term Congressman Hal Rogers.
Pulaski County Judge-Executive Marshall Todd told Kentucky Public Radio the Center for Rural Development is using $1.3 million of these state funds to purchase 14 acres of wooded land near the Somerset Community College that is owned by Bill Turpen, the chairman of the Pulaski County Republican Party.
Of concern to Todd is the fact that local PVA records and property deeds show a company owned by Turpen purchased the same plot of land two years ago for just $406,000.
Todd says he is all for the workforce training center that his region desperately needs, but wants to see the state funding used efficiently for that purpose and not for inflated costs of a land purchase.
“It's just wrong,” Todd said. “It's a terrible look for what they're doing with taxpayers' dollars. An embarrassment, really.”
The top county government official added that this was the same plot of land Turpen and his partners tried to sell to the county and Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority two years ago for more than $1 million, which they both turned down for being too expensive.
Zoned as farmland and filled with trees, Todd added that the nature of the property would also be expensive to turn into land where training facilities could be built. Noting that he was previously in the construction business, he said the terrain has hills and some steep drops, requiring a “major excavation” to fix draining and flooding issues. The land is less than half a mile from the Center for Rural Development’s headquarters.
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck also said he had some concern about the price of the land purchase, adding that he was seeking more information. He said the last he had heard about the proposed sale was that the parties were waiting on an appraisal of the property.
Deeds from the sale of the property in 2022 show Eagle Creek Properties sold a two-thirds share of it to Somertime LLC — owned by Turpen — for $200,000 on Oct. 31, 2022, and then the remaining one-third share of the property to the company on the same day for $206,000.
Turpen said he purchased a one-third minority interest in the property approximately 16 years ago for over $200,000 and only purchased remaining interest in the property in 2022 for an additional $200,000. However, PVA records only show the two purchases involving Turpen’s company on the same day in 2022, and Eagle Creek Properties records on the secretary of state’s office have never listed Turpen as a member of that company.
Turpen said he has bought and sold properties in the area for many years and that property value “always depends on location and proximity in the community,” noting its proximity to the college and Center for Rural Development.
Local officials say Turpen’s daughter is married to Hal Roger’s step son. Regarding his friendship with Rogers, Turpen said “it would be difficult to find anyone in Pulaski County who isn’t a friend of our hometown congressman, especially after serving our region for more than four decades.”
Danielle Smoot, a spokesperson for Rogers, said in an email that the congressman "doesn’t have anything to do with daily operations of the Center for Rural Development or any nonprofit organization."
"He was not aware of this matter and certainly didn’t request state funding for it," Smoot wrote. "It is ludicrous to suggest any wrongdoing."
Lonnie Lawson, the president and CEO of the Center for Rural Development for the past 27 years, confirmed to Kentucky Public Radio that his nonprofit does plan to buy Turpen’s property for $1.3 million, but said the negotiations are ongoing and there is no set day for when the sale will close.
Asked about officials’ criticism of the nonprofit buying property for substantially more than what it was purchased for just two years ago, Lawson originally said he would not address that until after the purchase was finalized.
“I don't have any information on that at all,” Lawson said. “I mean, again, we're looking at negotiations, and once it's finalized I'm happy to comment on it. But that's where we are as of today.”
After this story was published, Lawson said the location of the new training center “is very important to the Center,” also noting its proximity to the college. He said that Turpen “has a strong reputation of managing properties with great integrity” and his nonprofit “has a long history of managing projects and grant funding, and I personally take that responsibility very seriously.”
“We began the process of obtaining an appraisal on the property to determine value, and we are actively seeking additional comps in the immediate area before we will finalize a deal,” Lawson stated in an email.
Judge-Executive Todd noted that just last year, nearly 50 acres of vacant property were purchased that adjoin the Turpen property, at a price of $1.4 million. That amounts to less than $30,000 an acre — less than a third of the approximately $100,000 per acre that the Center for Rural Development is purchasing the land from Turpen for.
Bennie Garland, an independent consultant who often works with regional development agencies, did not return a voicemail. Todd said that Garland pitched the sale of Turpen’s property to the county two years ago, but did not know if he was involved with the Center for Rural Development purchase.
Among the critics willing to speak publicly about the land deal is Andrew McNeil, the president of the conservative Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics & Education, which often highlights wasteful government spending.
“Making this outrageous offer for this specific piece of property tells me that the Center for Rural Development is more interested in rewarding a friend of Hal Rogers instead of being a responsible steward of taxpayer funds,” McNeil said in a statement.
Rogers’ involvement with the Center for Rural Development has been both praised and scrutinized for decades, as he has played a role in directing hundreds of millions of federal and state dollars to the nonprofit and others affiliated with it.
A Washington Post investigation in 2005 delved into allegations that Rogers was personally benefiting from the nonprofit, the headquarters of which some long been dubbed the "Taj Mahal" by some residents. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a D.C. watchdog group, has also criticized Rogers and the nonprofit network for decades.
The Center for Rural Development also faced scrutiny over a provision within the Kentucky Wired broadband expansion project that was uncovered by a state audit, which showed the expensive project would create a large revenue stream for the nonprofit.
Referring to the nonprofit’s “history of extremely poor executive management,” McNeil said that without a “thorough explanation” of the latest land deal, “this insult to Kentucky’s hard-working taxpayers should disqualify CRD from ever receiving state funds in the future.”
Last-minute amendment shifted funding to nonprofit
The $8.5 million appropriation from Frankfort did not originally go to the Center for Rural Development, as this detail was added in an 11th-hour amendment on the final day of the legislative session in April.
House Bill 1, which passed and was signed into law before the end of the session, appropriated $8.5 from the Department of Local Government to the Lake Cumberland Area Development District for a regional training center. The regional development agency is made up of officials from 10 counties, including Pulaski.
However, on the final day of the session, the House budget committee amended an unrelated bill, Senate Bill 91, to include language directing this funding to the Center for Rural Development, adding that it would only be “in collaboration with” the regional agency. The bill then quickly passed through the House and Senate before the legislative session ended that evening.
Both Todd and Keck say they did not know the funding was originally slated to go to the Lake Cumberland Area Development District, which they both serve on as board members.
State Rep. Jason Petrie, the Republican chairman of the House budget committee, did not respond to emailed questions asking who sought the amendment to send the $8.5 million of funding to the Center for Rural Development.
State Sen. Rick Girdler, a Republican from Somerset, said he knew of the $8.5 million of funding but did not know who requested the last-minute amendment in the House. He also said he knew nothing about the details of the land purchase.
“All I know is, they asked for $8 million for the tech training and the things of that nature,” Girder said. As for the cost of the land purchase, he said “who appraised it, and why it appraised, I have not a clue.”
Lawson with the Center for Rural Development said the $8.5 million “was never supposed to go to the Lake Cumberland Area Development District,” and the version of HB 1 that passed was in error.
“I think it was just a miscommunication,” Lawson said. “The Center for Rural Development was always the applicant. They are one of the partners on the property and the projects, but it was never supposed to be in their name.”
Derrick Helm, the general counsel for the Lake Cumberland Area Development District, told Kentucky Public Radio they were not made aware of the amendment on who would receive the funding until after it passed. He said they still look forward to collaborating on a future workforce center.
McNeil said legislators should answer questions about why the funding was switched to the Center for Rural Development at the last second and called on the administration of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to demand the funding be returned to the state.
Pulaski County Property Valuation Administration records show that on Aug. 26 of this year, the company owned by Turpen sold the property to Turpen and his wife for $1.3 million.
Todd said he was told by the regional development agency that the sale of the property to the Center for Rural Development is also for this same $1.3 million price, and that the sale is expected to close on Monday, just three days away.
“It's embarrassing that this is going to happen, or possibly happen, unless something, an outcry has started to slow it down,” Todd said.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the total amount paid by Turpen’s company for the property at issue in 2022, which the Center for Rural Development now seeks to purchase.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
