My buddy just went thru this same thing in central Texas. the problem is not the state, the problem is the appraisers, the state pays the every time they do an appraisal. So these guys purposely appraise properly very low because they know they will have to go back multiple times to re-appraise the same property. It is well known that a bunch of these guys are now very wealthy. The only way Mike will come out on this deal is to get a good lawyer that specializes in this. I know that my buddy ended up getting 10 times the original offer on his property on IH 35. I hate dealing with lawyers as much as anyone but they have fixed it so you have to use them in cases like this.