Bills to fund sewers and advanced septic systems with 1/8% sales tax hike stall in county legislature

Suffolk County’s ambitious plans to create a water quality fund for wastewater treatment hit a major road block last night when the county legislature voted to send the legislation back to committee.

The vote to recess public hearings on a pair of bills that would establish a countywide sewer district and a water quality fund, subject to a mandatory referendum in the November election, makes it very unlikely that a measure with majority support can be approved by the August deadline to appear on the ballot this year.

After four hours of testimony last night in Riverhead, with speakers nearly unanimous in support of the proposals, legislators voted along party lines to send the bills back to committee, with the Republican majority opposed.

One of the bills would would create a countywide wastewater management district, consolidating the county’s existing 27 sewer districts. The other bill would authorize a 1/8% county sales tax to fund water quality improvement projects, subject to a mandatory referendum. It would also authorize the extension through 2060 of the existing 1/4% county sales tax which funds the county’s drinking water protection program, also subject to a mandatory referendum. The 1/4% sales tax is currently set to expire in 2030.

The county measures were authorized by state legislation enacted this year. Under the state law, at least 75% of the revenues from the new fund will go to individual septic systems projects, including maintenance, remaining revenues may be used for new sewage treatment infrastructure.

MORE COVERAGE: Taking aim at nitrogen, state lawmakers advance Suffolk sales tax hike to fund water quality projects

Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey said the legislation, authorized by the State Legislature this year, does not follow the county’s subwatersheds management plan. He said the bills need amendment and the legislature could act on amended bills and put them to a vote by the public soon. The state law does not require a referendum this year, McCaffrey said. The county could hold “a special election at any time” to put this before the voters, he said.

“I want to see this through. You have my commitment on that,” McCaffrey said.

County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Sag Harbor) argued in favor of a motion to close both hearings and move the measures forward. She said “this very carefully crafted plan…is consistent with our subwatersheds plan.”

“We heard four hours of testimony and there was one voice in opposition,” Fleming said. “Every every economic sector was heard from — the construction trades, Regional Economic Development Council officer, environmentalists, a mayor a councilman, tons of labor, the League of Women Voters, a fisherman, scientists, a housing advocate. Every single person asked us to do this. I haven’t heard from anyone other than the folks around this this dais there that there’s a problem with this or that we shouldn’t do it,” she said.

“We’re being asked to let the voters decide,” she said.

The funds raised for the county’s sewer districts can be leveraged for hundreds of billions of dollars in state and federal funding, Fleming said.

“We’re going to leave hundreds of billions of dollars on the table,” she said.

“We have not caught up with the rest of the world. We’re burying our human waste,” Fleming said, pointing to the 380,000 unsewered properties throughout the county that rely on cesspools and septic systems, which don’t treat waste to remove nitrogen.

“I can’t believe where this debate went because nobody other than the legislators here are saying anything in opposition to this, especially along the lines that you continue to put forward. It’s not accurate. It’s not fair. And the voters should be able to make this decision,” Fleming said.

First District Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue) said legislators need to look at the importance of the natural environment to the county’s economy — recreational opportunities that drive tourism and the fishing industry that is jeopardized by waterways that don’t support marine life.

Legislator Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) said the legislation is “flawed” because it does not “allocate the right amount of funds the right area and that’s sewers,” he said.

“Sewers are the immediate answer to a lot of problems, particularly in our coastal waterways,” Caracappa said. “The quickest way, the best way to respond to those issues (nitrogen pollution of waterways) is putting sewers in the ground — not to have tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions by the end of the process, sitting around waiting for residents to request a grant for IA systems, where we can have people working putting shovels in the ground addressing the immediate problem,” he said.

Legislator Jason Richberg (D-Wyandanch) asked that the legislature work to fix objections raised by the majority and that McCaffrey call a special meeting of the legislature “to get this over the finish line.”