Deputy County Executive Peter Scully says Suffolk County wants to create a regional wastewater district, and one of its responsibilities would be to manage I/A systems.
A new 0.125 percent county sales tax, subject to voter approval, would fund the wastewater district. That’s in addition to the current 0.25 percent county sales tax that funds drinking water initiatives.
Scully spoke Thursday morning at a Southampton Town Board work session in what was billed as a Regional Water Quality Summit.
Scully said the first phase of the County’s Reclaim Our Water initiative is nearly complete. In the next step, homeowners are expected to install thousands of I/A systems across the county, especially on the East End.
Conventional septics and cesspools provide no nitrogen-reducing treatment and threaten the health of ground and surface waters. By contrast, I/A systems can significantly reduce total nitrogen in wastewater dispersed into groundwater.
The county began requiring I/As for new construction in unsewered areas in 2021. But an estimated 360,000 homes and 11,800 commercial properties already rely on conventional systems. While grant money is available to refund most installation costs, the upfront costs are frequently cited as obstacles to the faster adoption of new technology.
What’s more, I/A systems require regular maintenance and periodic testing to confirm compliance. Rather than having each town handle this burden individually, Scully said the proposed regional wastewater management district would realize economies of scale and better overall performance by working with homeowners to monitor ongoing maintenance.
The proposed district could also channel additional funding to homeowners who want to install I/A systems, spurring faster replacement of the old-fashioned polluting systems.
Funding the proposed district
The next step is for the Suffolk County Legislature to enact a law permitting the formation of the regional wastewater management district, including establishing a new board to manage operations following the county’s subwatersheds plan.
The effort would be funded by a new 0.125 percent county sales tax. Voters would have to approve the additional sales tax and vote to extend the current 0.25 percent sales tax that funds Suffolk’s Drinking Water Protection Program, set to expire in 2030. If approved, both sales taxes would expire in 2060.
Sewering efforts are mainly focused in the western part of Suffolk, where the county operates 27 sewer districts; they would be consolidated under the proposal. As a result, there would be no impact on municipal or privately-run districts. Still, Scully said the sewer funds could also support the development of downtown wastewater districts where they’re being contemplated on the East End.
Bridget Fleming, who represents the South Fork and Shelter Island in the County Legislature, said at Thursday’s meeting that to get the initiative on the November ballot, the county would have to present a resolution for legislators to review by August.
Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act
The state budget, passed earlier this week, authorizes the “Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act,” as Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone requested. The act supports the county’s long-term water management goals as expressed in the Suffolk County Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan (follow this link to read it).
Under the new law, included in a package of budget bills approved by the Legislature and Senate, Suffolk County can enact additional funding to support improved water quality by reducing nitrogen.
Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who introduced the legislation, also spoke at the Southampton meeting. He said the additional funding was critical for restoring the quality of local groundwater and surface waters.
At least 75 percent of the new fund’s revenues would go to individual septic systems projects, including maintenance, Thiele said. The remaining revenues could be used for new sewage treatment infrastructure.
From 2024 through 2060, the proposed 0.125 percent sales tax would generate an estimated $3.1 billion. Extending the 0.25 percent sale tax that supports the Drinking Water Protection Program through 2060 would generate another $1.9 billion for drinking water projects, including open space acquisitions.
What’s more, Thiele said the county could use the funds to leverage additional federal and state financing for its water quality improvement projects, enabling it “to scale up its efforts to remove nitrogen from our waters and finally reverse decades of declining water quality.”
The sale tax revenue is in addition to Water Quality Improvement Project financing available in the five East End towns through the Community Preservation Fund (CPF). The CPF is funded by a 2 percent transfer tax paid by buyers in real estate transactions, with some exemptions.
Voter-approved amendments to the CPF allow the towns to set aside 20 percent of CPF revenues for water quality improvement projects. Thiele said the county decided to pursue a voter-approved sales tax rather than other revenue streams because a sales tax applies to all who live, work, or visit here, spreading the burden over a much larger population.
