Since January, $1 million has been saved by moving approximately 40 offices out of leased buildings into county-owned buildings, Mr. Cohen said.

The first to move was the purchasing department, which had been paying an annual rent of $360,000 in a building it had used for 20 years surrounded by numerous county-owned buildings along Old Country Road in Mineola, the county seat.

The financial advantages of moving from leased space to county-owned buildings may not, however, be a given.

In a unanimous vote, legislators also approved the sale of a group of county-owned buildings in Plainview to Charles B. Wang, the chairman of Computer Associates in Islandia, N.Y., for $23 million.

Historically, the courthouses were county-owned buildings that were maintained at county expense, which created significant friction since the trial court judges, as officials of the state government, had to lobby the county Board of Supervisors for facility renovations and upgrades.

But viewing hours have been cut back since then, to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and within a month or so, trustees said last week, the museum will close completely while it moves from a rent-free space in a county-owned building in Paramus to an undecided location.

Conducting an inventory of county-owned buildings and property was one of Mr. Suozzi's priorities as county executive, and he said the survey found "a mess of crumbling buildings, underutilized space and poor planning."

Maintenance at all county-owned buildings is coming under renewed scrutiny.