Politics & Government
State Legislature Approves Exempting Lands From Erosion Control Taxes
Property owners who have sold their development rights or agreed to conservation easements will not be subject to Bridgehampton and Sagaponack erosion control districts taxes.
A plan to exempt properties with conservation easements from paying taxes into the Bridgehampton and Sagaponack beach erosion control districts was given the green light by the New York State Legislature this week.
Voters in each of the districts had already approved the exemptions, but a state resolution is required for a town to offer property tax exemptions.
"This bill ensures that those who conserved their lands, whose properties have already decreased in market value, are exempted," Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr., of Sag Harbor, said in a statement.
Thiele sponsored the legislation in the Assembly while State Sen. Kenneth LaValle, of Port Jefferson, sponsored the bill in the Senate.
"This legislation was an important part of the effort to move the beach
renourishment proposal forward, an initiative that will rebuild approximately six miles of oceanfront," Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said.
By public referendum in February, voters in the erosion control districts approved a $26 million plan to renourish beaches from Water Mill to Sagaponack with sand, in an effort to protect homes from storm damage and protect Southampton Town's greatest recreational assets — the beaches themselves.
