Clarkstown leaders explain proposed Community Preservation Act and how it would be paid for

Supervisor George Hman and Colin Schmidt, Clarkstown’s director of finance and a former New York assemblyman, used a town podcast to explain the Clarkstown Community Preservation Act and urge residents to support a petition asking state legislators to allow a local referendum.

"The Clarkstown Community Preservation Act is a policy that the town board has recommended be instituted here in Clarkstown," Schmidt said, calling the measure "the strongest policy tool available currently in the state of New York to local governments to protect the natural world within your jurisdiction." He said the program would let the town buy open space, preserve historic properties and fund water‑quality and flood‑mitigation work.

Schmidt described the process as multi-step: the town board recommended the policy, state lawmakers must pass authorizing legislation, the governor must sign it, and then Clarkstown voters would get an up‑or‑down referendum. "That then gets sent back down to the town and the town is mandated to put out a vote to the public," he said.

On funding, Schmidt said the program is designed around a one‑time assessment on real‑estate transactions described in the podcast as "three‑quarters of a percent" (0.75 percent). He said exemptions would protect smaller transactions — the first $100,000 of improved property and the first $50,000 of vacant land — and that the town could not borrow against the account because the money would be placed in a legally restricted "lockbox." "Our estimates indicate about $5 million a year would be generated," Schmidt said, adding that the amount is an estimate based on transaction volumes.

Schmidt and Hman pointed to Warwick, a nearby town with a two‑decade preservation program, as the closest working example and said local officials and real‑estate leaders there attribute some home‑value gains to the program. "It's not just an investment in preserving our community," Schmidt said. "When enacted, voters are investing back in creating additional value for themselves and their neighbors."

The podcast also covered the local administration of the program: a greenway commission would identify and prioritize properties and the town board would administer the fund and act on the commission’s recommendations. Schmidt said the commission would set funding milestones so that priorities could be purchased once the fund reached target thresholds.

Listeners were urged to show support now by signing a town petition and sharing it on social media to signal to state lawmakers and the governor that residents want the option of a local referendum. Schmidt said the petition already had "hundreds and hundreds" of signatures and stressed that the timing of any referendum depends on state lawmakers.

The episode closed with the hosts noting related local work, including a recently adopted natural‑capital accounting resolution the town plans to use to value its open spaces in budgeting. Schmidt framed the preservation act as a generational tool, saying the legislation (described in the podcast as carrying a 20‑year term with possible extensions) would allow properties acquired for conservation to remain protected "in perpetuity."