Scorpions owner Gordon Hartman and city/county officials have begun early negotiations on the potential sale of Toyota Field but remain far apart in their valuation of the soccer-specific venue.

Precinct 3 commissioner Kevin Wolff described discussions as “slow going” after Hartman met on Tuesday with officials from the city, the county and Spurs Sports and Entertainment.

Wolff said additional meetings were expected to take place on Wednesday.

“It’s still going to take a while to work through,” Wolff said. “I’m not sure that we’re so far apart that there won’t be a deal. But this is not by any stretch of the imagination easy to do. We’ve looked at this with the city and county going half and half. We essentially gave the marching orders to Mike Sculley that he can go into these negotiations and (tell Hartman) here’s your top price.”

Wolff declined to say what that top price is. Neither Sculley, the director of Bexar County’s Community Venues Program, nor Hartman immediately returned phone messages Wednesday. City councilman Mike Gallagher, a vocal supporter of Hartman’s quest to earn a Major League Soccer expansion bid, also did not return messages.

But multiple sources told the Express-News the official valuation by the city/county is $14 million, significantly less than Hartman’s asking price of approximately $30 million.

At the heart of the disagreement is how the venue, opened in 2013, has been assessed.

Hartman is pushing for comparable valuation, which would compare Toyota Field to the sale and/or construction price of similar venues, primarily in Major League Soccer.

But given that the Scorpions play in the second-tier NASL, which features not only fewer but much smaller soccer-specific stadiums, the city/county went with capitalized value based on expected income.

A source with knowledge of the discussions said the city/county marks down Toyota’s value in large part because of its location in the former Longhorn quarry on the North East side.

There’s also the matter of whether Hartman will be able to attract an investor for his team with the money necessary to earn and fund an expansion berth in MLS, which he’s been pursuing for several years.

MLS expansion fees are roughly $100 million, with an additional $30-40 million to expand Toyota to the necessary capacity.

“Capital projects are coming in left and right,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Do you want to take a lot of that money and put it into a second-tier soccer stadium? And, once you get to that point, there’s absolutely, positively no guarantee you’re going to get MLS. That’s the whole dilemma.”

Said Wolff, “I told him you’re in a Catch-22. We, the city and the county, we want to know we’re getting an MLS team if we buy the stadium. But you can’t sell an MLS team to investors unless you’ve got a stadium.”

Councilman Mike Gallagher, an ardent supporter of Hartman’s MLS push, is far more encouraged about a potential deal.

“I’m just pleased the county and the city are working together on this,” he said. “I’m not giving up. I’m really pleased with the feedback I’m getting from my colleagues. Every one of them supports a move to MLS so that will play strongly in whatever decision is made in the future.”

Of particular interest is the participation of SSE in the discussions.

Despite having been headed off by Hartman in their attempts to start a third-division USL franchise earlier in the decade, speculation continues to swirl that the Spurs remain interested in the soccer business. Multiple sources tell the Express-News the Spurs have retained USL franchise rights for San Antonio.

In contrast to the NASL, which has taken a competitive stance toward MLS, the USL serves as a de facto farm league with 19 of its 24 teams either owned or affiliated with MLS clubs.

The Spurs declined comment through a spokesman.

dmccarney@express-news.net

Twitter: @danmccarneySAEN

Staff writer John W. Gonzalez contributed to this report.