Cash floods preservation fund on surge in home sales

The fund collected its second-highest tax revenue proceeds in January, behind December 2020

Peconic Bay (iStock)
Peconic Bay (iStock)

The surge in home sales has produced a deluge of money for the transfer tax–funded Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund, according to the East Hampton Star.

The fund collected $21.3 million in December and $21.1 million in January, the best two months in its 22-year history.

The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund receives the 2 percent real estate transfer tax collected in East Hampton, Southampton, Shelter Island, Southold, and Riverhead. The East End real estate market has been in a frenzy since stay-at-home orders were lifted in the late spring.

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The fund uses that money mostly for land and maritime preservation projects. It buys property to preserve the area’s drinking water sources and open space. Towns can use funds to buy development rights on farmland to protect those properties as farms.

[Easthampton Star] — Dennis Lynch