Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced the County has paid off the sale leaseback of the H. L Dennison Building and the Suffolk County Judicial Facilities Agency will be dissolved at year-end.
When the County Executive took office in 2012, Suffolk County was in financial free fall, facing an estimated accumulated budget deficit of $500 million and a $200 million budget gap. One initial stop gap measure taken to help secure the County’s finances was the sale leaseback of the H. Lee Dennison Building. In 2013, the Suffolk Judicial Facilities Agency (JFA) bought the building from the County for $70 million and paid for it by selling bonds to investors. The County then made rental payments to repay the bonds, with the County initially set to regain ownership in 2033. The County has instead paid off the sale leaseback 10 years early and the JFA is no longer needed and will be dissolved as of December 31, 2023, a clear sign of the strong financial footing of Suffolk County.
“I can say with absolute certainty that Suffolk County is in the best financial condition it ever has been. A County that faced a $500 million accumulated deficit eliminated that deficit entirely, and now has $1 billion dollars of reserves, all of which was done without placing an unfair burden on taxpayers,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “The early payoff of the sale leaseback is a great example of how far we have come as a government in eliminating the financial disaster my administration inherited. Working cooperatively with the County Legislature, we have transformed the County from a weak position to a rock-solid financial foundation. Because of the sensible fiscal reforms and tough decisions we made to protect taxpayers, the County is now set up for long term financial success.”
Over the course of the last twelve years, County Executive Bellone was able to take the steps necessary to significantly improve the County’s financial standing. Some of the actions by the County Executive include:
- Reducing the size of government by 1,200 full-time positions, saving more than $100 million per year
- Merging the County Comptroller and Treasurer Offices, as well as the County Departments of Economic Development and Planning
- Selling the County-run Foley Nursing Home and privatizing County Health Centers providing accumulated savings to date for taxpayers of more than $100 million
- Historic Countywide healthcare cost agreement with all County unions; plan changes have resulted in cumulative savings of more than $200 million and substantially slowed expense growth rates
- County employees to contribute towards health insurance costs
- Voluntarily slashing and freezing his own salary, saving taxpayers over $300,000
As a result of this work, the County’s budget no longer requires one-shot solutions, such as the sale leaseback, to remain balanced. Suffolk County also took several steps to mitigate the financial emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and protect taxpayers. These fiscally responsible actions helped lower debt service costs and eliminated the need for short-term borrowings, both of which ultimately save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. All of these efforts have been recognized by the credit rating agencies and the New York State Comptroller's office as evidenced by his upgraded designation into the no fiscal stress category for the second year in a row.
The 2024 budget maintains the structural balance reached in 2019 and is a blue print for long term fiscal stability. The 2024 budget, for the 12th straight year, includes no increase in general fund property taxes and no tax increase in Police district taxes for the 3rd year. The budget bolsters reserves to more than $1 billion to further protect taxpayers against a future downturn in the economy.