The Community Preservation Fund took in less money in February of this year than in February 2014.
Across the five East End towns, the monthly total was $6.95 million, an 8.6-percent decrease from the $7.6 million collected in February 2014.
February’s numbers buck a recent pattern in which each month’s tally has been greater than that for the same month the previous year. However, State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. noted that the two-month total for January and February was still 4.9 percent more than last year, up from $14.61 million to $15.32 million.
“It’s hard to make any assumptions just based on one month of revenues,” he said Friday, adding that his gut feeling was that winter weather slowed real estate activity in February.
In the first two months of this year, Southampton Town took in $9.74 million in CPF revenues,compared to $9.41 for the same period last year, a 3.5-percent increase. East Hampton took in $4.17 million, a 13.9-percent increase from last year’s $3.66 million.
Southold collected $680,000, a 15.3-percent increase over last year’s $590,000. Shelter Island took in $360,000, 29.4 percent less than $510,000 in January and February 2014. Riverhead also took in $360,000, an 18.2-percent decrease from $440,000 in 2014.
The Peconic Bay Regional Community Preservation Fund comes from a 2-percent tax on most real estate transfers. Used to pay for open space preservation and similar endeavors, the tax has raised more than $1 billion since its inception in 1999.
on Mar 30, 2015