Annual Community Preservation Fund revenues collected by the five East End towns have nearly doubled since the bottom fell out of the real estate market in the economic crash of 2008, according to data released last week by South Fork Assemblyman Fred Thiele.
The 2-percent transfer tax that generates the CPF produced revenues of $107.69 million for the five towns in 2014, the highest annual total since the fund’s inception in 1999. December 2014 saw the highest one-month total in the fund’s history, with $14.43 million collected, Thiele said.
CPF revenues increased more than doubled for the five towns collectively since the 2009 low point following the crash, with Southampton ($31.62 million) and East Hampton ($63.68 million) seeing record-breaking revenues. Both South Fork municipalities saw their CPF revenues about triple in 2014 compared to 2009.
Total revenues collected by the five towns since 1999 are approaching the $1 billion mark, the assemblyman noted.
“It is clear that the real estate industry on the East End is in its strongest position since the start of the recession in 2008. CPF revenues have increased by 167 percent since 2009 and have consistently grown for the past five years,” Thiele said.
“Town CPF funds should now be flush with cash, allowing towns to be aggressive in protecting lands for open space, farmland, parks and recreation, and historic preservation purposes,” he said.
But the picture on the South Fork is different from that on the North Fork, where CPF revenues increased by more modest percentages since 2009: 27 percent in Southold and 36 percent in Riverhead.
In the 2000s, Riverhead borrowed about $70 million against anticipated CPF collections in order to purchase open space and farmland under development pressure. The town now has annual debt service of $5.8 million on that borrowing and, with annual CPF revenues remaining at current levels, has sufficient funds in its CPF reserves to pay the debt service only through next year. Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said he is hoping to be able to gain a legislative amendment in Albany that will allow the town to refinance its CPF debt through the state Environmental Facilities Corporation.
PECONIC BAY REGION COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND
ACTUAL REVENUES
1999-PRESENT
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
YEAR |
E.HAMPTON |
RIVERHEAD |
SHELTER IS |
S.HAMPTON |
SOUTHOLD |
TOTAL |
1999 |
3.12 |
0.42 |
0.34 |
8.33 |
1.04 |
13.25 |
2000 |
10.00 |
1.26 |
0.70 |
20.09 |
2.32 |
34.37 |
2001 |
7.84 |
2.41 |
0.53 |
15.35 |
2.77 |
28.90 |
2002 |
10.97 |
2.70 |
0.91 |
22.38 |
3.54 |
40.50 |
2003 |
11.25 |
3.71 |
1.03 |
26.26 |
4.35 |
46.60 |
2004 |
19.75 |
4.16 |
1.66 |
42.31 |
5.80 |
73.68 |
2005 |
25.50 |
5.55 |
2.02 |
51.06 |
6.94 |
91.07 |
2006 |
19.58 |
6.10 |
2.18 |
49.98 |
5.67 |
83.51 |
2007 |
30.06 |
4.33 |
2.24 |
53.53 |
5.86 |
96.02 |
2008 |
14.50 |
2.77 |
1.24 |
32.97 |
5.14 |
56.63 |
2009 |
10.18 |
1.62 |
0.84 |
24.77 |
2.88 |
40.30 |
2010 |
17.72 |
2.29 |
1.36 |
33.79 |
3.62 |
58.78 |
2011 |
13.86 |
1.93 |
0.82 |
38.88 |
3.35 |
58.84 |
2012 |
21.86 |
2.21 |
1.30 |
37.82 |
3.65 |
66.84 |
2013 |
28.15 |
2.58 |
2.05 |
57.79 |
4.86 |
95.43 |
2014 |
31.62 |
3.41 |
2.20 |
64.68 |
5.78 |
107.69 |
TOTAL |
275.96 |
47.45 |
21.42 |
579.99 |
67.57 |
992.41 |