Long Island Funds Open Space

Recently in Albany, Governor George Pataki signed a bill authorizing the five towns at Long Island's East End to levy a 2% tax on most real estate transactions.  The funds would go into a Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund to generate a possible $120 million over the next 12 years, when the law's sunset provision kicks in, to be used to protect environmentally or culturally important lands through acquisition or conservation easements.  Voters in each town will have to approve the tax in separate referenda on their ballots this fall.

Also on the ballot for all voters in Suffolk County, which lies between the island's midpoint and its East End, will be approval of a $62 million bond issue for the purchase of farm and development rights, open space, and parkland.  For  information on both these measures contact Peconic Land Trust, (516) 283-3195.