For background, here is a reprint from the Independent on Long Island (www.indyeastend.com).

Nine years, 10 thousand acres and over 500 million dollars. That's the latest update on the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund. Assemblyman Fred Thiele, the so-called father of the CPF, recently announced that revenues topped the half billion-dollar mark.
         Thiele authored the legislation that set the Community Preservation Fund in motion. Dedicated to the preservation of open space, farmland and historic sites, the fund derives revenue through a two percent tax on certain real estate transfers. 
         In 1998, each of the five East End towns held referenda on the transfer tax. They passed by an overwhelming margin, with credit given to supporters who helped persuade builders and realtors to sign on. The funds began to collect revenue in 1999.
         With some dips, the revenues have continued to climb over the last nine years. As of November 2007, Southampton Town had amassed $50.6 million, a slight increase over 2006's $49.9 million, and a decrease from it's all time one year high of $51.06 million in 2005. In 2000, the first full year of the fund, Southampton took in a little over $20 million.
          In all $34.38 million was collected by the five East End towns in 2000. In 2005, the top year, $91.07 mil streamed into the coffers. The following year, the numbers dipped a bit, to $83.51 million. As of November of last year, the cumulative revenue for 2007 had reached $90.72 million for the five towns.
          East Hampton took in $28.59 million in 11 months last year. That was its highest year. The least amount of revenue was taken in in 2001, $7.84 million.
          With real estate prices traditionally less exorbitant than on the South Fork, the towns of Riverhead and Southold collect significantly less CPF revenue. In total, over the nine-year life of the program, Riverhead has collected $30.22 million. Southold has taken in $37.41, and the East End's smallest town, Shelter Island, has collected $11.13 million.
         With its amazing success the local CPF has served as a model for other areas of the state looking for ways to preserve open space. A recent referendum in Brookhaven Town failed, however.
         The CPF has been in the news in East Hampton recently as controversy swirled around Supervisor Bill McGintee's decision to use $2.5 million in CPF revenue for regular operating costs. Confronted with the notion, he referenced the section of the CPF law that allows a municipality to use up to 10 percent of the revenue for management and stewardship expenses. Using $2.5 million would mean McGintee anticipates $25 million in CPF revenue next year even though the housing market is currently sluggish. By contrast, although Southampton Town routinely collects at least twice as much money, town officials have never spent more than $300,000 on management and stewardship.
           In 2006 another CPF-related referenda passed handily. Thiele and supporters of the fund sought to extend the expiration date for the two percent transfer tax. It was due to expire in 2020. The extension allows municipalities to borrow against anticipated revenues out to 2030.
           With a public service career that dates back decades Thiele has called the creation of the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund "the thing I'm most proud of." In a release touting the landmark half billion mark, he said, "The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund has been an overwhelming success. Without this $500 million infusion of cash, valuable open spaces would have been lost forever. In less than nine years, the CPF has become the most valuable tool local government has available to implement their land preservation strategies."  ¶