CPF Surpasses $2 Billion Mark in February

Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund revenue over the life of the program surpassed the $2 billion mark in February, when the 2 percent tax on real estate sales on the East End brought in $12.65 million for the month.

Approved by voters on the East End in 1998 and instituted in 1999, the CPF tax gives the five East End towns the means to purchase land or development rights for open space preservation or community use, and since a voter-approved referendum in 2016, up to 20 percent of CPF revenue may be spent on water quality protection.

“The Community Preservation Fund, in passing the $2 billion mark, has exceeded all projections made for the fund when it was first enacted in 1998,” State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor said in a statement. “The true measure of its success, however, is not the revenue, but the impact the CPF has had in protecting open space, farmland, and historic landmarks that define our community character and sense of place.”

Thiele also noted the CPF’s role in reversing water quality decline across the Peconic Bay region.

“By protecting our land and water, the CPF has secured our traditional economic bases of farming, fishing, tourism, and second homes,” he said. “The things that make the East End special, like historic villages, farms, bays and beaches, are secure. The East End thrives because the CPF has ensured that conservation could keep pace with development. Our economy is our environment.”

In the first two months of 2023, CPF revenue was $21.01 million, compared to $39.28 million during the first two months of 2022, a 46.5 percent decrease, Thiele reported.

Over the life of the CPF, Southampton Town has raised $1.15 billion, and East Hampton has raised $581.65 million.