Voters in Suffolk County will likely get to decide whether to raise sales taxes to fund a sweeping sewer expansion plan. The $4 billion project will expand the county’s sewer system and overhaul outdated septic tanks that cause nitrogen pollution — through an additional 0.125% sales tax.
Legislation to add the measure to the ballot has been in the works for years. Lawmakers said this week that they expect to quickly pass a bill in Albany in time to add a public referendum for Suffolk County voters on November’s ballot.
According to Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, the project is vital to protecting the aquifer's drinking water underneath Long Island.
“Let’s make sure that we’ll always have clean water not only under our feet to drink, but clean water on our surfaces and our bays, our rivers, our creeks,” Romaine said at a news conference on Monday.
To pay for it, local sales tax would increase by an eighth of a percent, or 12 and a half cents per dollar subject to sales tax. Half of the revenue from the new tax would go to sewers and the other half would help homeowners replace individual septic systems.
"Suffolk County’s future is dependent upon our ability to successfully manage our wastewater," said Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "Establishing a reliable funding mechanism is imperative to replace antiquated septic and cesspool systems as well as aging sewer infrastructure."
