Island boosts CPF revenues
For the first time in 2016, Shelter Island saw its Community Preservation Funds (CPF) surpass what they were for the same period in 2015, according to numbers released by Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor).
For the first 11 months of 2016, the Island saw a 2.2 percent increase, bringing in $1.82 million as compared with $1.78 million for the same months in the previous year.
CPF money comes from a 2 percent tax paid by property buyers in any of the five East End towns and is used to preserve open spaces and farmland.
Going forward, in line with propositions passed last November in all five towns, up to 20 percent of CPF revenues can be allocated for specific water quality protection programs.
The CPF funds for all five East End towns continued to be behind the 2015 numbers by 7.3 percent, bringing in $84.39 million for the first 11 months of 2016 as compared with $91.06 million for the same period of 2015.
Looking back on CPF numbers for the past couple of years, Shelter Island has generally lagged, often catching up by November or December and in one case, in January of the following year.
November revenues alone for all five towns totalled $7.41 million, down 22.1 percent from $9.51 million in November 2015.
Nonetheless, Mr. Thiele pointed out that revenues for the full 12 months of 2016 are expected to exceed $90 million.
“The decline over the past year can be attributed to the Hamptons, primarily the Town of Southampton, which has seen revenues dip by $6.29 million,” the legislator said.
Southampton shows an 11.4 percent drop in its CPF revenues from $54.97 million for the first 11 months of 2015 to $48.68 million for the same period in 2015.
East Hampton revenues were down by 2.7 percent from $25.75 million in 2015 to $25.04 million in 2016.
Both Southold and Riverhead showed increases for the first 11 months of 2016. In Southold, there was a 3.9 percent increase from $5.6 million to $5.82 million and in Riverhead, a 2 percent hike from $3.02 million to $2.96 million.
Since the inception of the CPF program in 1999, revenues have totalled $1.179 billion, Mr. Thiele said. For the past 12 months, revenues have totalled $93.63 million.
