Southold creates advisory board as voters mull ballot measure for .5% tax to help fund affordable housing

A housing advisory board has been created in Southold to help the town implement a proposed transfer tax on the ballot in November that officials hope will help spur more affordable housing.

The town board voted 6-0 at its Sept. 6 meeting to create the advisory board, which has 10 appointed members. The advisory board’s main task will be to develop a plan to guide the town on how to spend money from a proposed Community Housing Fund voters will be asked to approve in the November election.

The housing fund would be paid for via a .5% real estate transfer tax. The money collected would be used to pay for affordable housing initiatives in Southold. Shelter Island, East Hampton and Southampton towns will also be putting a similar referendum on the ballot this fall.

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell recently told Newsday that the board will identify the most efficient ways to “take that money and use it to create affordable housing.”

“They will look at what’s realistic, what can we do to create the biggest bang for the buck to meet our housing goals,” Russell said Wednesday. “Half a percent isn’t a huge amount of money, but it’s better than what we’re not getting, and right now, there’s no real funds to create affordable housing.”

Though town officials hoped to have the plan ready before the November election, Russell said it might not be ready by then.

“Certainly it’s a challenge asking a community to vote on something when they don’t see the specific results, but over the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of community participation,” Russell said. “So everyone is going to have a good idea of where the plan is going and what it would be including.”

Councilwoman Jill Doherty, who will be a liaison between both boards, told Newsday that the advisory panel will meet with residents and other stakeholders before the election to develop an outline of the plan.

“Once we have that together and Nov. 8 comes and [the referendum] passes, we’re going to continue to meet and finalize it,” Doherty said. “Hopefully by spring, we’ll have a full plan that the town can adopt and send off to the state for their approval.”