Summary
Known as the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, this legislation would authorize municipalities to raise local revenue for the purpose of preserving local resources. Revenue would be generated through a locally-derived real estate transfer fee to be approved through local referendum.

Explanation
Communities throughout the Hudson Valley are struggling to balance exploding development with the desire to protect their unique local character.  As development increases, municipalities find they do not have the resources to protect farmland, natural areas, and historic buildings that have defined their communities for generations.

State funds for assisting these efforts are not sufficient, and local options for raising funds are restricted to raising property taxes or bonding. Under this legislation, municipalities in Putnam and Westchester Counties could create Community Preservation Funds; a pay as you go system for preserving a town’s special places.  The Fund would be supported by a small real estate transfer fee (not to exceed two percent) that would only apply to the portion of a property’s price that exceeds the designated community’s residential median sale price.

In the Hudson Valley, 20 towns and municipalities have passed resolutions in support of a Community Preservation Act, two towns have already created community preservation funds (Red Hook and Warwick), and three more are seeking authorizing legislation this session to establish their own.  On Eastern Long Island five towns created Community Preservation Funds in the 1990s. Local voters supported the creation of the Funds through public referendums and have raised more than $400 million and preserved 7,500 acres to date. Those towns have since re-authorized the funds twice by public referendum, extending their existence to 2030. 

This bill has rapidly gained support from a wide range of constituencies, including environmental groups, advocates for farmland preservation, historic preservationists, and town officials. The legislation respects and empowers localities by putting the final decision in the hands of local voters. And, because it is tied by statute to a town’s median purchase cost of a home, it protects both affordable housing and first-time home buyers.

Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports this bill.