With a target date of next Thursday to adopt a resolution to send a ballot proposition to the Suffolk County Board of Elections that, if passed in the Nov. 8 election, would activate a fund dedicated to the creation of affordable housing, the East Hampton Town Board and a town attorney worked to finalize the wording of the proposition and an accompanying abstract on Tuesday.
The Board of Elections must receive the proposition by Aug. 8 in order for it to be included as a referendum on the general election ballot.
The referendum will ask voters to approve a one-half of 1 percent real estate transfer tax, which would be in addition to the 2 percent transfer tax that goes toward the community preservation fund. The Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act, signed into law last year, authorized the five East End towns to establish community housing funds to be paid for by income from a transfer tax. Should the referendum pass, the fund would start taking money in January.
A hearing on the housing plan and adoption of related town code changes will also happen next Thursday. A second hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 15, and the board plans to conditionally adopt the plan in October.
The board launched an “All Hands on Housing” initiative in January, an effort to alleviate the extreme scarcity of affordable housing and its impact on the staffing of businesses, government, schools, and emergency services, as well as on traffic, as many of those who cannot afford to live in the town commute from points west. Some residents are also living in illegal or substandard conditions.
The town also grew by about a third between 2010 and 2020, to a population of 28,000, according to the most recent census. “Many of us suspect the numbers are actually greater,” that the census undercounted the town’s population, said Jeremy Samuelson, the town’s planning director. “I would describe it as a minimum number.” Less than 3 percent of the approximately 21,600 housing units in the town is defined as affordable.
Tuesday’s discussion came weeks after Mr. Samuelson told the board that a quarter of households in the town are spending at least half of their income on housing, and nearly three quarters of renters and one third of mortgage holders are spending at least 35 percent of their income on housing.
Mindful of past ballot propositions that are confusing, employ double negatives, and can result in a vote cast that is contrary to the voter’s intent, the board is concerned about the proposition’s clarity. As read on Tuesday by Jennifer Nigro, an assistant town attorney, it had been distilled to a crisp 66 words.
“To fund affordable housing opportunities in East Hampton Town,” she read, “shall local laws amending Chapter 160 of the town code entitled ‘Community Housing Opportunity Fund’ and adding new Chapter 162 entitled ‘Supplemental Real Estate Transfer Tax for Community Housing’ establishing a half-percent tax paid by the purchaser of real property in the town, with the revenues deposited in the East Hampton Community Housing Opportunity Fund, be approved?”
The abstract, which adds context to the proposition, can be circulated as part of an effort to inform voters and be made available at polling stations on Election Day, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said. The board “finds the provision of a variety of housing opportunities for community members across the economic spectrum to be key to maintaining a healthy, sustainable community,” it begins. “The widespread impacts of a lack of affordable community housing are increasingly evident, and town participation is needed to provide new housing options and make existing housing accessible for moderate and lower income local residents.”
Should the referendum pass, buyers of a property would pay the half-percent transfer tax, with the first $400,000 exempt up to $2 million, beyond which the full purchase price would be taxable. First-time home buyers would be exempt. Money from a community housing fund could be spent in myriad ways, from buying land and buildings to town-led or public-private construction projects for sale or rent, rehabilitation of existing buildings, down payment and other financial assistance to buyers, loans to construct accessory dwelling units, creation of housing for employees of local businesses, purchase of individual units within existing multiunit housing complexes, and housing counseling.
The fund, should it begin collecting money in January, is expected to raise between $6 million and $12 million annually, depending on the real estate market. Had it been operational last year, Mr. Samuelson said, the fund would have had an infusion of $17 million.
Should the referendum pass, the board will appoint a committee of experts from housing nonprofits and the construction, real estate, and banking communities to review applications and make funding recommendations. The committee’s recommendations will be advisory, with funding decisions requiring a public hearing and approval by the town board. Also presented on Tuesday was a document listing anticipated frequently asked questions about the housing initiative. The goal, Mr. Samuelson told the board, was to make use of “very plain language that describes what this fund does, who’s in charge of it, what checks and balances there are,” all in the form of “very digestible answers.”
