Preservation funds still lagging on Island
Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. released information showing Shelter Island’s Community Preservation Funds are still lagging behind last year’s receipts.
Only Shelter Island, among East End towns, continues to lag in the amount of Community Preservation Fund revenues based on the performance in the first seven months of 2014 compared with the same period last year.Results released by Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) show that Shelter Island has received $1.24 million in CPF money for the first seven months of 2014 from the 2 percent tax property buyers pay when they make East End purchases. For the same period last year, the town received $1.36 million, representing an 8 percent deficit this year.
Real estate professionals on the Island have been optimistic that the numbers will improve, maintaining that several deals are moving toward closings, but haven’t yet closed.
Most of the CPF money is used to purchase and preserve property for public use while a small amount is also used to maintain the properties.
East Hampton, which was lagging at the end of the first six months of this year, has caught up and its numbers show the town’s CPF revenues up by 3.4 percent from last year’s numbers, jumping from $16.86 million in 2013 to $17.45 million for the same period this year.
Southold and Riverhead both show significant gains. In Riverhead, the CPF revenues are up 42.3 percent, from $1.37 million in 2013 to $1.95 million this year. Similarly, Southold boasts a 20.2 percent increase in CPF funds, at $2.68 million, up from $2.23 million last year.
Southampton CPF revenues in the first seven months of this year are up by 4.9 percent for 2014, at $32.37 million this year, compared with $30.85 million in 2013.
Since its inception in 1999, the Peconic Bay Regional Community Preservation Fund has generated $940.44 million and in the past 12 months, it has generated $98.47 million, Mr. Thiele said.
Overall, the fund “continues to see steady growth in revenues, he said.
“This reflects the continued strength and stability in East End real estate and the continued availability to local towns of the necessary revenues to protect community character,” he said.
