Thiele: Community Preservation Fund revenues decline
Three of five East End towns — Shelter Island, Southampton and Riverhead — showed a decline in Community Preservation Fund revenues during the first nine months of 2016 compared with the same period last year.
The money is collected from a 2 percent tax paid by buyers of properties in the five East End towns and is used to purchase and preserve open space.
Overall, the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund is 4.1 percent lower for the first three quarters of 2016 than it was for the first three quarters of last year, according to AssemblymanFred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor). At this point last year, the towns had taken in $71.86 million as compared with $68.9 million this year, he said.
At the same time, Mr. Thiele said the month of September this year showed a slight upswing with the five towns taking in $7.37 million as compared with $7.31 million for that month in 2015.
At the same time, the legislator said CPF revenues are on course to exceed $90 million this year.
Shelter Island has tended to lag the other towns throughout this year. But while it shows a 3.5 percent lag this year, Southampton has a 9.5 percent decline for the same period compared to where it was at this time last year.
Shelter Island has seen $1.36 million in CPF money for the first nine months of this year compared with $1.41 million last year.
Southampton brought in $43.01 million for the first nine months of 2015, but only $38.93 million for the same period this year.
Southold showed a 4.3 percent increase, bringing in $4.6 million this year as compared with $4.41 million for the first nine months of 2015 and East Hampton showed a 4.9 percent increase, bringing in $21.56 million this year as compared with $20.56 million last year.
Since its inception of the fund in 1999, the five towns have seen $1.163 billion infused into their economies to be used to purchase open spaces and farmland.
On next week’s ballot, voters in the five towns will act on propositions to extend the life of the fund from 2030 to 2050 and could allow each to dedicate up to 20 percent of future CPF revenues to specific water quality projects.
