Islandia Village to Eliminate Property Taxes
By Hank Russell
Members of Jake’s 58 were joined by representatives from Suffolk Regional OTB, local elected officials and labor union organizations as they officially announced the groundbreaking of a new $210 million expansion project.
Suffolk Regional OTB President Phil Boyle thanked everyone for attending and for their support. He went on explain what will go into the expansion, including 110,000 square feet of new casino space, the renovation of 210 hotel rooms, upscale restaurants and lounges, a sports book, a spa, a sound barrier and increasing the number of parking spots, from 600 to 2,000. Boyle noted that one of the biggest problems he has heard from visitors with Jake’s 58 was the lack of parking.
“I’ve had people tell me they’ve circled the lot for 15 minutes, couldn’t find a spot, and they went home,” he said. “It’s never going to happen again.”
Boyle said Jake’s had to sell $342 million in bonds to fund the project. Within two hours, the entity had offers to buy in the amount of $3.677 billion. “The people were so confident [in the expansion], they took more than they needed,” he said.
“When the expansion is over, it’s going to be truly amazing,” Boyle said. “We will have more amenities than we can ask for.”
Suffolk OTB Vice President Jim LaCarrubba, who started with the organization in 2020, remembered when there were discussions about the expansion. “Now we’re here,” he said. “This has been a long time coming; it’s been long overdue. The residents of Suffolk deserve it. My staff deserves it.”
The goal, LaCarrubba said, is to “provide a premium entertainment facility” at Jake’s 58; this means it will take 800 highly skilled union jobs over the next two years to do so. Once the project is completed, it will create between 125 and 150 full-time permanent jobs.
“I’m very excited what’s to come about the opportunity, not just for us, but for our customers and the residents of Suffolk and we are going to keep delivering those dollars.”
LaCarrubba emphasized Suffolk OTB is a public benefit corporation, so all revenues from Jake’s 58 goes back to the community. “We don’t keep anything; everything goes back — back to education, back to Suffolk County, back to the people,” he said. “So what we’re doing, it’s going to cost us a little money, but it’s going to pay back in spades for everybody.”
“It’s a good day when we can expand and it’s a good day when we can create jobs,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine. “It’s a great day when a casino helps with its money fund public education.” With the money from Jake’s 58, “we are going to fund our county, we are going to fund our infrastructure to make our buildings and roads better.”
Romaine said, with a revenue stream from Jake’s 58, he will never have to raise taxes. On the subject of taxes, Islandia Village Mayor Allan Dorman announced that, once the expansion is completed, he will no longer impose village property taxes, which will save village residents, on average, up to $500 a year. Various news reports stated that, under a revised Taxpayer Relief Agreement, the village will receive an additional $2 million a year — from $2.25 million to $4.25 million — until the agreement expires on 2041.
Construction is slated to be completed by 2026.