Madonna swooped in soon after and bought it for just $2.2 million, with the restriction that she could not build on it and must use it for the “production for commercial purposes of agricultural products,” said Suffolk County Planning Commission director Sarah Lansdale.
“Someone would have paid $17.5 [million] — substantially more than what it sold for” if development rights were intact, said Enzo Morabito, a broker with Douglas Elliman.
In addition to the discount, Madonna gets a big county tax break given to farms — paying only $2,260.28 a year in local property taxes for the 24 acres. By comparison, the owner of a single acre across the street pays $6,841.52.
And if Madonna does at least $10,000 a year in sales over two years — about 100 saplings — she can bring her tax bill down to less than $300 thanks to state agricultural breaks.
Some locals don’t think Madonna should be getting breaks meant for farmers.
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