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Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund revenue, which accumulates through a 2 percent tax on real estate sales on the East End, is running just 3.5 percent behind the pace of revenue collected last year, when the CPF hit an all-time record.
In the first eight months of the year, the CPF brought in $139.69 million in the five East End towns for open space and community character preservation as well as water quality protection. In August alone, the CPF haul was $17.48 million, a 30 percent increase compared to the same month last year, reported the office of Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor.
Thiele noted that August was the 25th consecutive month that CPF revenues have exceeded $10 million.
In Southampton, CPF revenue for the first eight months of 2022 is $75.69 million, a 5.8 percent decrease, year over year, but still far and away above prepandemic revenue levels. In 2019, from January through August, the tax raised just $29.33 million.
East Hampton had the second-most revenue among the towns, at $45.34 million, a 6.5 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2021 but nearly triple the rate in 2019.
In the past 12 months, the CPF has generated $205 million. Since its inception in 1999, the CPF has raised $1.95 million.
Staff Writer on Oct 13, 2022