The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund produced $64.55 million for the first eight months of 2015, an increase of 1.7 percent from $64.14 million for the same period a year ago.
According to a press release from State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., yearly revenues are ahead of last year, but the August 2015 total is the lowest revenue total for one month in almost two years. CPF revenues reached $6.36 million this past August, down from the $8.44 million raised during the same time last year.
Out of the five towns the CPF is collected in, only two had revenues that grew in first eight months of 2015 compared with 2014.
Southampton revenues rose 2.6 percent, from $37.85 million in 2014 to $38.85 million this year. Southold saw a dramatic 11.6-percent bump from last year, rising to $3.66 million from $3.28 million.
Meanwhile, the town with the greatest loss in CPF revenue for the first eight months is Shelter Island, plunging 15.5 percent, from $1.48 million in 2014 to $1.25 million in 2015.
Riverhead is next, with a 6.9-percent drop, from $2.33 million to $2.17 million. And finally, East Hampton fell 3 percent, from $19.19 million in 2014 to $18.61 million.
Despite these losses, “the CPF revenues in the first eight months of 2015 exceed 2014 by 1.7 percent,” Mr. Thiele reported, adding that 2014 was the largest year for CPF revenues in the history of the program. The CPF has generated $1.0567 billion since its inception in 1999.