July revenue numbers for the Community Preservation Fund in the five East End towns dipped slightly compared to the same month last year, according to statistics released this week by the office of State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.
A total of $9.91 million was the tally for the month of July for the five East End towns served by the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund, which is endowed by a 2-percent tax on most real estate transactions, and used to pay for the public preservation of land and similar community resources. That number compares to $9.94 million in CPF revenues for the same month last year.
On the other hand, the overall total for the first seven months of this year is still up—$58.19 million in 2015, compared to the $55.7 million collected over the same period in 2014, a 4.5-percent increase. The number of transactions for the first seven months of 2015 also was up—4,372, compared with 3,591 a year ago.
The year 2014 was the biggest year for revenues in the history of the program, according to Mr. Thiele’s office. Since its inception on 1999, the CPF has generated $1.0503 billion—$110.3 million of that in just the last 12 months.
The breakdown by towns is as follows:
Southampton, which is always the top revenue producer, took in $34.73 million in the first seven months of 2015, a 7.3-percent increase over the $32.37 million collected in the same period of 2014. East Hampton took in $17.23 million this year, a 1.3-percent drop from $17.45 million collected in the first seven months of 2014.
Southold took in $3.19 million, a 19-percent increase over the $2.68 million collected in the first seven months of last year. Riverhead took in $1.89 million, a 3.1-percent drop from the $1.95 million collected in that time period last year.
Shelter Island took in $1.15 million, a 7.3-percent drop from the $1.24 million it took in from January to July in 2014.