Mitchel Field lease deal under fire

Nassau County, faced with a $287-million budget gap for 2011, is considering selling the rights to the rent on land it owns at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, the site of some of Long Island's best-known companies.

But Nassau Democrats Tuesday blasted the idea, saying the county would be receiving upfront cash in a one-time deal in exchange for revenues the rent would provide for decades. They said such a plan would require legislative approval and might not pass.

Late last week the county released a unique request for proposals seeking investors interested in making upfront payments in exchange for rents on 18 leases at Mitchel Field. The county said the leases are expected to bring $3.6 million in revenue to Nassau this year, and the rents are increased by schedules in the leases.

Deputy County Executive Tim Sullivan, the top financial aide to the county executive, said the maximum term for such arrangements with investors would be 30 years. The county, he said, would continue to own the properties.

Tenants include United Parcel Service, Reckson Associates, JPMorgan Chase Bank and Sunrise Senior Living Services Inc.

Nassau obtained the properties at Mitchel Field from the U.S. government in the early 1960s. Leases at Mitchel Field have been criticized for decades as being too low.

Sullivan said the purpose of the RFP is to gauge Wall Street's interest and to determine how much money the county might secure in a deal.

"We think it might be a total of about $20 million," Sullivan said. The leases provide for about $113 million in income over 30 years.

A meeting on the matter for investors is set for Aug. 25 in Mineola, and RFPs must be returned by Sept. 6. After that, Sullivan said, the county will decide whether to proceed.

"We're just fact-finding," he said. "We want to see what our options are."

Democrats and an aide to Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), said they believed the plan would need legislative approval.

Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), said she has asked the county legislature's budget review office to examine the RFP.

"My main concern would be that we have to be careful we're not settling for pennies on the dollar in exchange for a bad deal," Jacobs said.

And Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said the plan echoed deals in the 1970s when Nassau signed 99-year leases for Mitchel Field property. Then Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon issued a report estimating that the county would lose about $2.7 billion in revenue over the life of the leases as a result of those deals.