by Ray Keating
The Keating Files – February 26, 2020
When it comes to taxes and government waste, Long Island stands out for its excesses and dysfunction. And Suffolk County is serving up another example with a case involving two golf courses in the Town of Riverhead.
The Links at Cherry Creek and The Woods at Cherry Creek golf courses have been up for sale for a few years now. So, what particularly makes this an ugly Long Island story? The answer is twofold – first, it has to do with why the courses are up for sale, and second, what county government is considering in response.
A February 24 RiverheadLocal.com story hit on what’s happening. The two courses cover 296 acres, and according to one of the ownership partners, Vinny Sasso, “It’s very tough. And golf is very seasonal. This year you’re getting some play, but normally in the winter you’re closed for like five months. If the taxes were reasonable we wouldn’t even think about selling.”
The property tax bill was $354,990. That’s simply stunning.
Here’s a glaring example of taxes suffocating business on Long Island – indeed, forcing a business to sell. Unfortunately, that’s not all that unusual on Long Island, or across much of New York, for that matter.
What’s the response of elected officials? Well, on Long Island, the answer is to make the situation even worse. Specifically, the Suffolk County legislature next week will consider a resolution to authorize an appraisal of the property with the ultimate intention of buying the two golf course, and then reverting them to “open space.”
Excuse me?
That’s right, taxpayer money would be used to fork over millions of dollars – it was reported that listed price for the golf courses is $25 million – so that an oddly shaped piece of land, wedged in among farms, houses and another golf course, would be returned to a “natural state.”
Of course, assorted environmental groups love the idea. One would think that any person with common sense, however, would be left bewildered.
On the other hand, heck, what’s not to love? Taxes push a business to sell. Government considers spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to buy it. And then the land would be used, well, for absolutely nothing. That’s government. That’s Long Island.
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Ray Keating is a columnist, an economist, a novelist (his latest novels are The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12thbook in the series, and the second edition of Root of All Evil? A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel with a new Author Introduction), a nonfiction author (among his recent works is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know), a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own.
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