In the culmination of a deal that drew complaints of fiscal irresponsibility three years ago, Wake County school board members Tuesday approved the purchase of a tract of land south of Apex, but for half the amount a previous school board was prepared to pay for it.

Efforts to purchase the 108-acre site in 2007 met criticism after the school board — then controlled by a more liberal majority — agreed to pay $8.7 million for the property. Two appraisals later valued the land at around $4 million.

Wake County commissioners deep-sixed the deal after learning that a real-estate investment company, Apex Olive LLC, had bought the land 10 months prior, in 2006, for nearly three times less than the price agreed to by the Wake County school board.

If the agreement had gone through, the investment firm would have pocketed a 175 percent profit.

In a unanimous vote last night, members approved the purchase of the land for $4.26 million (offer to purchase PDF is here). The property’s tax value is $3.97 million, according to the most recent records available.

“By refusing to pay an exorbitant price three years ago, we saved the taxpayers more than $4 million,” said school board chairman Ron Margiotta.

The Apex Olive deal was one of several that generated protests that the previous school board was overpaying for property. Accusations of a conflict of interest also arose after it was revealed that Jim Goodnight, a software billionaire from Cary, is a partner in Apex Olive.

In 2006, Goodnight and his wife, Ann, backed a $970 million bond for school construction, which voters approved. The funds might have been used to pay Apex Olive for the land.

Margiotta said it would be several years before schools are built on the property.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.

[Editor’s note: This story was edited after publication to correct the profit margin Apex Olive LLC would have received had the school board completed the purchase in 2007.]