Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund Officially Breaks $1 Billion Mark

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) today reported that revenues for the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund (CPF) produced $8.37 in revenue for the Peconic Bay Region for January 2015. This compares with $7.01 million in January 2014. This is a 19.4% increase over 2014 for the month.

Since its inception in 1999, the Peconic Bay Regional Community Preservation Fund has generated $1.00089 billion for the life of the CPF Program.

Thiele stated, "The Community Preservation Fund, in passing the $1 billion mark, has exceeded all expectations its creators envisioned when it was enacted in 1998. The true measure of its success is not the level of revenue, but the more than 10,000 acres that have been protected across the East End. Protecting community character has not only secured the rural character and historic sense of place in our communities, but it has secured our traditional economic basis of farming, fishing, tourism, and second homes. The East End continues to be an attractive place for people to visit and live because the CPF has insured that conservation could keep place with development. The things that make our East End home special, like historic villages, farms, bays, and beaches still exist and thrive. Our economy is our environment."

Thiele added that there will be a "Billion Dollar Bash" celebration for the CPF at the Suffolk Theater in Riverhead on March 5, 2015 at 5 pm. Those who worked to create the CPF and administer the fund through the years will join together to celebrate the success of the CPF and reminisce about the battle to create the fund.

Below are revenues by Town for 2014 compared with 2015 (Table One) and the program revenues by Town since 1999 (Table Two):

Table One

($)2014 ($)2015 %increase
East Hampton $1.51m $2.43m +60.9%
Riverhead $0.25m $0.23m -8.0%
Shelter Island $0.32m $0.27m -15.6%
Southampton $4.66m $5.13m +10.1%
Southold $0.27m $0.30m +11.1%

Table Two

East Hampton Riverhead Shelter Island Southampton Southold
$278.43m $47.71m $21.71m $585.17m $67.87m

TOTAL: $1.00089 Billion