Tuckahoe School Files Suit Against Town For Denying FOIL Request For Golf Course Revenues

The Tuckahoe School District has launched legal proceedings against Southampton Town, saying that several Freedom of Information Law requests were unjustifiably denied by town officials. On Friday morning, Tuckahoe officials filed paperwork as a precursor to an Article 78 lawsuit against the municipality, claiming the school district has been requesting information about how golf courses within the Tuckahoe School District are taxed over the past two years, but has been denied financial documents it has the right to view. Over the past three years, Tuckahoe officials have said the loss of an estimated $6 million in revenue can be attributed to legal decisions at a national level that changed the way golf courses are assessed for tax purposes. Originally, the courses were evaluated based on property value, the same way a residential property is assessed, but recent decisions have changed the process to make the golf courses’ taxes based on business income instead.The Tuckahoe School District does have basic information about how the final income numbers for the four golf courses that lie within its boundaries—Sebonack Golf Club, National Golf Links of America, the Southampton Golf Club and the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club—are determined by the town. However, Tuckahoe officials are seeking specific numbers to cross-check the town’s findings, and to date those requests have been denied.“We want to look at the fairness to our district residents in reference to the assessed real estate taxes,” Tuckahoe Superintendent Chris Dyer said. “We have not received all of the documents that we believe allow us to do our due diligence, so now it is up to the courts to look at our request and determine whether the assessor’s office is correct.”After being served with notice of an Article 78 lawsuit, defendants have a short period of time to respond before the suit can move forward.The four golf courses cover a collective 951 acres, or about 12.7 percent of all the land within the school district’s boundaries, yet they pay less than 5 percent of the district’s total tax levy. In general, the golf courses pay about one-third the taxes they would pay if they were assessed based on property value.In the past, Lisa Goree, the Southampton Town tax assessor, has confirmed that golf courses, like all commercial businesses, are assessed based on their commercial activities—restaurant and pro shop sales, for example—but not on membership dues, which she said would already be reflected in restaurant and pro shop sales, or for the overall value of the land on which they are located. She added that although the golf courses account for a sizable portion of the property in Tuckahoe, past court cases have determined that they should be assessed as commercial businesses.According to Mr. Dyer, the district has attempted to view documents outlining the assessment process for the golf courses applied by the Assessors Office, and the golf course income statements that would show how much revenue the golf courses make. However, the town has denied the requests, saying the documents contain confidential trade information for the businesses, and that the district only has access to court documents submitted for tax evaluation. Now a state judge will review the case to determine if the district has the right to view the documents, or if the financial figures should remain confidential for the private businesses. Mr. Dyer said that the district is not seeking money from the town in the lawsuit, only to have proper taxing practices in place for the golf courses to ensure future revenue. On Tuesday afternoon, Southampton Town Attorney Tiffany Scarlato said the town has not yet been served the suit, and declined to comment since she had not yet read it.Attorney Stanley E. Orzechowski, who is representing the school district in the suit, did not return calls seeking comment. “We have not received all of the documents that we believe would allow us to feel able to perform due diligence to tax fairness examination,” Mr. Dyer said. “We hope to gain the tax assessment information and then we can report back to the community.”