Government Briefs 02.28.13

East Hampton Town

Budget Meeting Tomorrow

    East Hampton Town’s Budget and Finance Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss possible improvements to the town’s information technology systems.

    Bob Pease, the head of the town’s Information Technology Department and its systems administrator and several industry representatives are expected to attend, including Brad Kramer, a senior solution architect at CA Technologies, and Peter Welling, an account manager who works with state agencies. Mike Diesenhaus, a committee member who worked in information technology for the New York Stock Exchange, will also participate.

    On the agenda are the existing town system and systems used by other municipalities, including their capabilities and cost-effectiveness. In subsequent sessions, the group plans to review various systems in more detail and to look at what is offered by local I.T. vendors.

    The committee will take a look at software that could be used for tax assessment, land planning, code enforcement, highway maintenance and management, and issuing town permits, as well as discuss an overall “technology strategy,” which could include cloud computing and the integration of desktop computing and phone systems, before making recommendations to the town board.    

Suffolk County

Peconic Bay Region

    Land transactions raised more than $11 million for open space, farmland, and historic preservation in the five East End towns during January, the highest monthly amount for the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund in five years.

    The fund, which was established in 1999, receives the proceeds of a 2-percent transfer tax on most real estate sales.

    New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. reported that there were 1,054 transactions in January, compared to 499 sales generating only $3.4 million in January, 2012.

    In East Hampton, preservation fund revenue for the month totaled $2.3 million, compared to $850,000 a year ago. Of the five participating towns, Southampton Town received the most preservation money in the first month of this year — $7.49 million, compared to $2.1 million last year. Totals for January in Riverhead, Shelter Island, and Southold were $240,000, $570,000, and $510,000, respectively.

    Since its inception, the preservation transfer tax, which expires in 2030, has generated more than $789 million.