| A Preservation Tax Coming to
Town? Referendum could extend East End's real estate levy west
(Note from WB: The altruistic and benevolent Nature Conservancy strikes again.) June 29, 2003 By Indrani Sen, staff writer Newsday 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, NY 11747-4250 Fax: 631-843-2986 To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@newsday.com The popular real estate transfer tax that has raked millions into a fund for open space preservation in the East End could be extended to the Town of Brookhaven, after a bill authorizing the tax passed the state Senate and Assembly at the end of last session. Brookhaven voters will decide in a November referendum whether to institute a tax of 2 percent on home purchases over $250,000 and land buys over $150,000. Officials estimate that the tax could bring in as much as $25 million a year, to be spent on open space acquisition, transfer of development rights, historic preservation, and direct payments to school, fire and ambulance districts. "What's amazing about the Town of Brookhaven is the richness of its resources," said John Turner, of the Nature Conservancy on Long Island. Sixty percent of the pine barrens are in the town, he said, as are 50 miles of frontage on Long Island Sound and the Great South Bay, and dozens of rivers, creeks and ponds. But, he said, "Land is definitely being gobbled up quickly.... The town is really a bull's-eye for the development community now." State Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), who cosponsored the bill in the Senate, agreed. "The remaining land in Brookhaven can be quantified, and it's a race to preserve that limited amount of land," he said. "So now's the time." The bill had support from both sides of the aisle. "Brookhaven is on the leading edge of the development wave that has swept across the Long Island historically," said Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), who cosponsored the bill in the Assembly. "You need the tool, you need the money, in order to have an alternative to turning Brookhaven into Brooklyn." The 1998 referendums on the transfer tax in the five East End towns, which were approved overwhelmingly, were preceded by a fierce public-relations battle. Developers, builders and real estate brokers attacked the plan with radio and TV ads saying it's antidevelopment and makes housing prohibitively expensive. And Brookhaven voters are likely to see a similar campaign in the months leading up to this November's referendum, said Bob Wieboldt, the executive vice president of the Long Island Builders Institute, which represents building and related trades. The projected $25 million a year, on top of the $20 million bond for open space acquisition approved last year by Brookhaven voters, will make the town "an 800-pound gorilla in the housing market," Wieboldt said. He argues that the available funds will drive up land prices and further restrict the availability of desperately needed housing. "There's a lot of opposition to development, but on the other hand, there's real needs, too," he said. "Something that makes housing more expensive and creates less of it is not the best thing for affordable housing." The New York State AFL-CIO also opposed the bill, though a spokesman said the organization does not oppose its principle. Rather, the organized labor group wanted to see some of the revenues collected spent on affordable housing. "What we want to make sure of is that when there is talk of a real estate transfer tax, that affordable housing is part of the discussion," said spokesman Mario Cilento. Town Supervisor John Jay LaValle, a Republican, said he is confident that voters will approve the tax, which he called "apple pie." Indeed, he already has plans for the revenues created. Though the details of exactly how the money will be spent are yet to be worked out based on community input, he said he supports the idea of hiring a director of land management to head a new division within the town's planning department. A volunteer citizens advisory board must be appointed, and land purchases would be subject to public hearings and town council approval. Though the Brookhaven legislation is modeled almost exactly on the law already in effect in the five East End towns, some say the system could be even more effective in a town so large and populous. On the East End, where $117.4 million was collected in the last four years, "the biggest problem has been that the need has outpaced the revenue," Englebright said. "Brookhaven is both in greater peril because of a greater population, and in a greater position to protect that land that is left because we have that greater population," he said.
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