The annual haul for the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund barely budged an inch from 2010 to 2011, according to the office of New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele.
Annual revenues increased just 0.1 percent to reach $58.85 million collected across the East End last year.
The CPF had , as the market rebounded from the housing bust. Every East End town saw a huge bump then, but in 2011, while Southampton Town saw a 15 percent increase in CPF revenue, every other town’s CPF took a dive.
Town 2010 2011 Change East Hampton $17.72m $13.86m -21.8% Riverhead $2.29m $1.93m -15.7% Shelter Island $1.36m $0.82m -39.7% Southampton $33.79m $38.88m +15.1% Southold $3.62m $3.35m -7.5%CPF revenues are an indicator of the health of the East End real estate market — and how much towns can expect to spend on land preservation in the coming years. The CPF is funded through a 2 percent tax on real estate transactions and the revenues are used for buying up open space, nature preserves, parkland, historic properties and development rights. The CPF was created in 1999 at the state level, specifically for the Peconic Bay Region, to preserve the East End’s beauty and agricultural heritage. Since its inception, the CPF has taken in more than $722 million, according to Thiele’s office.
