Latest News

Who’s responsible? Liability raised in dark skies debate
Bucks in first place in Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League
Blame a branch: Island lost power this morning
Sunset Beach asks for Bastille Day party permit
Town to mark underwater rock formation in Dering Harbor
LIPA generators coming to the Island
South Ferry hopes dredging can be done to avoid crisis
Dr. Hynes to speak at League of Women Voters annual meeting
Bryan’s song: First Islander across the 10K finish line
Three-run homer sinks Bucks against North Fork Ospreys

Sports

Bucks in first place in Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League

June 19, 2013

Sunset Beach asks for Bastille Day party permit

June 19, 2013

Bryan’s song: First Islander across the 10K finish line

June 17, 2013

Education

$2.8 million school building project begins this month

June 11, 2013

Nonprofit day care in Greenport faces hard times, may close

June 8, 2013

This week in Shelter Island history

June 7, 2013

Business

South Ferry hopes dredging can be done to avoid crisis

June 18, 2013

Merchants, board look to lower speed on Bridge St.

June 17, 2013

Driveway settlement? Judge may impose decision

June 13, 2013

Community

Bausman steps down as Island Red Cross CEO

June 17, 2013

Photos: The Island gets ready for another big race day

June 15, 2013

Letter: Welcome to the 34th Annual Shelter Island 10K

June 15, 2013

Obituaries

Obituary: Barbara Joy Roberts Carlsen

May 28, 2013

Obituary: Reporter staffer David Lee Draper

May 20, 2013

Obituaries: Elmer August Kestler Jr., Lawrence William Sliker

May 9, 2013

Real Estate

Real Estate: The evolution of Greenport's architecture

June 9, 2013

$400K driveway? Owners, landscaper in tangle of suits

May 30, 2013

This week in Shelter Island history

May 30, 2013

Opinion

Letters to the Editor: Dark skies, pro and con

June 13, 2013

Letters to the Editor

June 11, 2013

From Penelope's kitchen: Pacaya Flowers and Yucca Blossoms

June 10, 2013

Real estate transfer returns spike 35 percent

PETER BOODY PHOTO | Sylvester Manor, where the town this year has spent about $1.85 million 2-percent funds to help preserve two farm fields totalling about 80 acres.

Thanks to an uptick in the value of local real estate transactions this year, Shelter Island’s Community Preservation Fund is practically flush — not compared to the glory days of the booming market but compared to the darkest days of the continuing real estate slump.

Receipts from the Island’s 2-percent tax on real estate transactions are up more than 35 percent over what the town budgeted for 2012 with a month to go before the end of the year. The money is used to fund open space purchases.

Through November, the town has collected $1,086,500 in 2-percent tax revenues, far exceeding the $800,000 that was predicted in the 2012 budget, Supervisor Jim Dougherty reported at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.

The most recent check from the county, which collects the tax when deed transfers are recorded, was for November and  totaled $125,265, Mr. Dougherty said. It was the seventh month for the town with 2-percent revenues above $100,000, he said, after a very slow start to the year from January through April.

Mr. Dougherty said three sales in particular kept the number high for November, with one property on Ram Island Road bringing in $24,000 and another yielding $48,000. A property on Peconic Avenue in Silver Beach brought in $33,500.

Before the real estate slump that followed the stock market crash of 2008, numbers were much higher. In 2005, for example, Shelter Island collected $2,019,093. Last year, the town collected $824,328.