State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Jenkins

TATE, Judge.

The only issue in this expropriation suit concerns the amount of the award. The plaintiff Department expropriated the entire lot and residence of the defendant landowners, contending that the market value of the property taken was $11,700. The trial court awarded judgment on the basis that the property was worth $14,500 at the time of the taking.

The Department contends on its appeal that the trial court erred: (1) in determining market value on the basis of the reconstruction-cost-less-depreciation approach, instead of the “market data” (comparable sales) approach; and (2) in…