County Building Purchase Could Hurt Sachem

In the middle of swirling plans to save money, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has hopes of the county purchasing a $25 million Holtsville IRS building to reduce rental costs. Levy aides said the Sachem Central School District will lose $220,000 a year in property taxes if the sale takes place.

"Any proposal to lower the taxable property within Sachem Schools would be detrimental," said Bruce Singer, Sachem's Assistant Superintendent for business, via email. "We would need to review the entire proposal to fully understand and comment."

Superintendent James Nolan said Singer was best to answer questions about the situation.

The proposed plan would also allow the county to sell other buildings, including a health department facility in Farmingville for $1.7 million.

The plan would be self-financed by existing tenants already paying rental fees, including the IRS, as well as Immigration and the Naturalization Service. Overall, Levy aides said, the decrease in property tax would be about $341,000 - $220,000 of which is related to Sachem.

Some legislators seem leery about having the county dish out payments to a school district to make up for the lost funds. It would be a precedent if Sachem were to embark on any sort of deal that would see the county reimbursing the district.

"The proposal for the county to buy a building in the Holtsville area is in its very early stages," said Presiding Officer William J. Lindsay (D-Holbrook). "The purchase contract has not been finalized as yet.  When and if it is, it will be thoroughly examined by the Legislature.

"If the building is purchased the overall consolidation plan is for the County to sell another public building in Farmingville, which I believe is in the Sachem School District. It is anticipated that building will go back onto the tax rolls which should offset some of the impact on the school district. As the overall plan moves forward, if there is a loss of revenue to the school district I would support some form of pilot payment to the district."

Levy, a Sachem graduate, is a regular speaker at graduation ceremonies at his alma mater each year. His aides have not returned an email regarding his thoughts on dealings that could financially put Sachem in a bind.

At Wednesday night's Sachem board of education meeting, the board said it would be sending a letter to the Suffolk County government regarding the issue.

"We'll let Mr. Levy know where his roots are," said board president Anthony Falco.

Sachem Patch will be providing updates when possible.