Island lags other East End towns in CPF revenues
Every East End town except Shelter Island is showing increases in Community Preservation Fund (CPF) revenues for the first four months of 2018.
Numbers released today by Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) show a decline here of 26.7 percent from the same period last year.
On Shelter Island revenues totaled $440,000 for the first four months of 2018 as compared with $600,000 during the same period last year.
CPF revenues are generated by a 2 percent tax paid by property buyers, with the money used to preserve open spaces and farmland from development. Up to 20 percent of total revenues can be used for projects to improve and preserve water quality.
Despite Shelter Island’s lagging behind the other East End towns, overall increases in CPF revenues total $31.6 million for all five towns in the first four months as compared with $28.55 million for the same period last year, an overall increase of 10.7 percent, Mr. Thiele said.
Riverhead had the highest percentage change in CPF revenues this year, with a 39.2 percent hike above revenues for the same period last year. Riverhead saw its CPF revenues increase from $970,000 to $1.35 million.
East Hampton increased its CPF revenues by 20.2 percent from $8.06 million in 2017 to $9.69 million this year.
Southold saw a 17.3 percent hike in its CPF revenues for the first four months of 2018. It took in $2.58 million during that period as compared with $2.2 million for the same period last year. In Southampton, revenues were up by 4.8 percent from $16.72 million last year to $17.53 million this year.
Since the inception of the program in 1999, the CPF revenues have totaled $1.315 billion.
