The Hamptons in Suffolk County
Suffolk County, home to the Hamptons and some of the country’s poshest homes, accidentally missed an interest payment on its debt, CNBC reported. The gaffe, which includes a missed payment on $76.1 million of public improvement bonds, leaves the county technically in default.
Floridians are big spenders in the Hamptons market, owning 2.7 percent of all vacation homes there which cost a total of $1.2 billion, according to 2012 PropertyShark figures.
Though per-capita income in Suffolk County is well above the national average, it has been mired in recent financial difficulties, declaring a fiscal emergency last year after an independent task force predicted a three-year deficit of $530 million, according to CNBC. Local officials last month added that the county could see a $250 million deficit by the end of 2014.
To be sure, the missed payment was for the paltry sum of $722.65 and appears to have been purely an oversight on the part of M&T, the county’s escrow agent.
“The county informed M&T of its error, and the escrow agent immediately wired the $722.65 payment to DTC,” the regulatory filing said. [CNBC] –Hiten Samtani