East Hampton home sales bolster green fund
High-end sales helped a land preservation fund collect 22 percent more in realty taxes last month. (May 11, 2012) Credit: Gordon M. Grant
In a sign of resurgence in high-end home sales, an East End land preservation fund collected almost 22 percent more in real estate taxes last month than it did during the same period in 2011.
The surge stems from strong home sales in East Hampton.
The Peconic Bay Regional Community Preservation Fund took in $6.1 million last month, compared with $5 million in April 2011, said Assemb. Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor), who monitors the fund. The revenue are 50 percent higher than in April 2010, Thiele said.
In a news release Thiele called the increase "promising for both the East End real estate market and our ongoing, ambitious land preservation efforts." The fund is used by towns to preserve land within their borders; its revenue is commonly seen as a rough barometer of the East End's housing market.
The Town of East Hampton's fund revenue soared nearly 129 percent in April compared with the same period last year, from almost $986,000 to nearly $2.3 million, according to Thiele.
Revenue fell in April in the other four towns that participate in the fund compared with the same period in 2011. The Town of Southampton's fund revenue dropped almost 2 percent, to less than $3.5 million. Riverhead collected less than $84,000, a decline of 40 percent. Shelter Island generated less than $78,000, a 24 percent fall. Southold's revenue of less than $240,000 in April marked a 13 percent decline.
A 2 percent tax on real estate sales generates money for the fund, which was created by a referendum vote in 1999. The first $250,000 of a sale is exempt.
The fund helps towns protect wetlands, woodlands, farms and historical sites from development, said Mary Wilson, community preservation manager for the Town of Southampton.
"It's kept this part of Long Island beautiful and protected the habitats and natural resources," she said.
