A Suffolk County Board of Elections manual recount Friday confirmed the passage of Shelter Island’s Community Housing transfer tax. The final tally was 934 yeas and 919 nays.
The Proposition 3 recount was ordered by the BOE because the original tally resulted in a difference of 15 votes. In elections with fewer than 1 million voters, state election law requires full manual recounts when the margin of victory is 20 votes or less, or 0.5% or less.
On Shelter Island, the BOE initially reported the measure passed 931 to 916. A final tally narrowed the gap to 13 votes, a 0.7 percent margin, but the manual recount restored the spread to 15.
The measure passed by solid margins in East Hampton, Southampton and Southold. The Town of Riverhead did not participate in the referendum but, under the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act, reserves the right to do so in the future.
The state law enables the five East End towns to set up Community Housing Funds and to ask voters whether to approve a 0.5 percent real estate transfer tax to support local housing initiatives.
Each town’s vote impacts only that town, and any monies raised through a voter-approved transfer tax stay within the community for local housing needs. Spending must follow guidelines established in state law and in required local Community Housing Plans.
The Town Board appointed a Community Housing Fund Advisory Board, which drafted a plan working with a consulting firm. After receiving public feedback, the plan is being redrafted for presentation at a public hearing at a date to be determined.
The transfer tax will provide a steady stream of money to support housing, but a Town may use other revenue sources to seed its Community Housing Fund, including borrowing.
Written by NYS Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., the law is modeled on the popular Community Preservation Fund, which he also authored and has raised millions to preserve open space on the East End.
Like the CPF, the Community Housing Fund legislation won bipartisan support in the State Legislature. Governor Kathy C. Hochul signed it into law in October 2021. An earlier effort, which also won broad bipartisan support, was vetoed by then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
