Westchester County?s plan to buy an Ardsley building for $13 million during a real estate slump has some crying foul.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators voted 12-4 Tuesday night to purchase the 85,000-square-foot property at 450 Saw Mill River Rd. in the Ardsley section of Greenburgh. The county also approved $5 million in bonds for the project, which will include renovating the space to store 1,600 electronic voting machines.

During the meeting, critics voiced concerns that taxpayers would get ripped off in the deal because the building is worth far less in this economic downturn.

"You should not pay one cent more than $1.2 million for this building," said Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. "To me, the big problem is it smells like a gift."

Feiner called the project a gift because one of Westchester County Executive Andy Spano's biggest contributors is reportedly a member of Ardsley Partners, which owns the property.

Feiner and others argue that taxpayer dollars will be diverted to pay for the inflated building purchase price instead of going toward Greenburgh schools.