The Westchester County Board of Legislators last week approved $12.6 million to buy and renovate a building in Ardsley for the storage of the county”™s new voting machines. In addition, some of the space will be used for public safety administrative offices.
The purchase of the 85,000-square-foot building at 450 Saw Mill River Road, which was approved 12-4, was opposed by Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner.
Feiner said the purchase “feels like a rip off” and “smells like a gift” because he said the building”™s owner, Jon Halpern, is a campaign contributor to County Executive Andrew J. Spano.
“I just really believe that the taxpayers are not getting a good deal,” Feiner said, noting that the owner believes the building is only worth $1.3 million even though it has been assessed at $12 million.
The board of legislators approved a $5.6 million bond act to purchase the building and a “separate bond act for $7 million to refurbish the site to a climate controlled environment suitable to storing the approximately 1,600 electronic voting machines, related equipment and ballots that the county will soon take ownership of to comply with federal and state law.”
Feiner, along members of the public, voiced concern over the building purchase at the board meeting July 8.
Feiner pointed out there is a recession and “this is not the time the county should acquire real estate.”
Feiner said Westchester County has the third highest property taxes in the country, and county government has 4 million square feet of existing space that could be used to house the machines.
In an e-mail response to criticism over the purchase of the building, Spano said “we do not want to buy any building, but are mandated by the federal government to purchase and store new voting machines.”
Spano said the county does not have a facility capable of housing the new machines and warehousing the old ones, which federal law requires the county hold on to for two years.
In addition to the storage of machines, the building will be used for administrative offices, making the purchase of the building “even more cost effective now that it eliminates a new public safety building which would have cost taxpayers almost $10 million to construct.”
And, “recognizing that taking the property off the tax rolls would be a hardship for the Ardsley school district, we offered to give the district $1 million in capital improvements to make up for the loss of tax revenue. Last year, the Ardsley school board approved the purchase in return for the $1 million.”
Thomas J. Abinanti, a county legislator who opposed the purchase of the building, said the county should be looking to cut back, consolidate and use existing space.
“I think this is not good for Greenburgh, not good for Ardsley and I think it”™s a mistake for Westchester County,” Abinanti said, noting that the purchase of the building “will cost Greenburgh and Ardsley a permanent loss of a significant amount of taxes.”
Ardsley taxpayers will have to make up for almost $200,000 which will be taken from the school tax rolls, he said.
“I thank my colleagues for supporting an agreement with the Ardsley school district, which would somewhat ease the pain, but it”™s not a cash agreement,” Abinanti said. “It will allow the county to work with the school district to fund up to a million dollars in capital projects over the next five years.”
Abinanti said there is a lot of pressure on the tax base already and taking on more space is going to make it more difficult to hold the line on taxes.
Abinanti said a year ago 12 votes were needed to buy the property and it was not approved.
Then an election came, there was a change in composition of the board and the no vote was replaced with a yes vote.
He said under state local finance law, Westchester County must go to referendum on any project bonded for more than $10 million.
“In this case it appears that it”™s all one project, which is to buy and renovate,” Abinanti said. “That”™s the argument; it”™s never been tested in court. Clearly the administration is afraid of a referendum because they”™re afraid they would lose.”
And as for the cost to buy and renovate the building, “in this expensive marketplace its going to be a challenge for them to properly renovate and fit out the building for two very different uses.”
