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Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund annual revenue, 1999-2019.
Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund annual revenue 2018 and 2019 comparison.
Community Preservation Fund revenue across the East End fell more than 21 percent in 2019, sinking to the lowest level since 2012.
Each town maintains its own CPF, funded through a 2 percent tax on most real estate transactions. Watching CPF revenue is one way to monitor the performance of the real estate market on the Twin Forks and Shelter Island.
According to numbers provided by New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., Southampton Town brought in $42.9 million through the CPF transfer tax in 2019, down 19 percent from the year prior.
East Hampton Town faired worse. There, revenue was $22.7 million, a 29 percent slide.
In Riverhead Town, where home values are much less than on the South Fork, revenue fell to $3.4 million, a 31 percent decrease. Southold Town saw the least movement, down 5 percent with $7.4 million in revenue.
Shelter Island was the only town to see an increase, but there are relatively few home sales there annually, so it doesn’t take much for CPF revenue to have a big swing. Revenue was up 38 percent on the island, but that brought the total up to only $1.5 million for 2019.
Adding up all the towns, the haul was $77.9 million. The funds may be used to purchase land or development rights to protect historic sites or ensure that open space and farmland is not developed. Up to 20 percent of revenue in each town may be budgeted for water quality protection and improvements.
CPF revenue peaked in 2014 at $107.7 million. The only other year that it surpassed $100 million — but just barely — was in 2015.
