WESTFIELD – After several months of work and two failed attempts to sell an unused school building, town officials finally have put the property back on their tax rolls.

The town recently sold the 3.5-acre property, located on Egypt Road in Westfield, to local businessman Roger Wilcox for $20,000, according to Richard Watson, first selectman in Westfield.

The property is valued at about $95,000, but town officials believe they are gaining, not losing by the sale, Watson said Friday.

The building has been in the town’s possession since 1999, when the municipality began tuitioning its students to Presque Isle schools. For four years, the town has paid for the school’s upkeep, at a cost of about $10,000 per year.

The building sale was approved by residents in October during a special town meeting. The town’s only stipulation in selling the old school, other than town land use ordinance restrictions, is that the property not be sold to a tax-exempt entity.

With the sale, the town will no longer be responsible for building maintenance and will begin receiving a few thousand dollars in taxes each year.

More importantly, Watson said, town officials are viewing the sale as the first step in a process that could provide the town with an increased tax base.

Attempts Friday to reach Wilcox were unsuccessful. Watson, however, said the businessman is making plans for housing for the elderly on the property.

A complex of about 10 or 12 apartments could increase the value of the property to more than $350,000, or three or four times what it is worth now, the selectman said.

“There’s a good chance that five years from now we will have a greater tax base than what we have today,” Watson said.

Watson said both the board of selectmen and the townspeople are pleased to see the property being put back to good use, especially because the plans being considered may provide some elderly people who live in Easton with another housing choice.

“I think it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Watson said.