Suffolk raises $42.5M for sewer project fund, on pace with projection
The sewage treatment plan at Bergen Point in West Babylon sits right on the Great South Bay. Credit: Johnny Milano/Johnny Milano
Suffolk County has collected $42.5 million earmarked toward a new fund to support countywide wastewater improvement projects, a figure on pace to closely matching initial projections for the inaugural year.
Jennifer Juengst, Suffolk's deputy county executive, said additional December payments still to be tabulated will push the 10-month total for 2025 closer to $47 million. County officials in 2024 had initially estimated the fund in its first year would bring in $48 million, but lower sales tax revenue in early 2025 dropped the projection to around $42 million, she said.
Juengst provided the latest figures at Thursday’s meeting of the 21-member Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Fund Board of Trustees, which she chairs.
The revenue is generated through a voter-approved 1/8th of a percent increase in the sales tax that took effect March 1.
Half the revenue from the fund will go toward wastewater treatment facility projects while the remaining half will be available for homeowners to upgrade individual septic systems in areas not ideal for sewer connections.
The trustees last summer adopted an implementation plan to prioritize sewer projects. The report ranked 30 projects that could draw money from the new fund, which is expected to generate as much as $4 billion over its lifetime.
The trustees earlier this month began soliciting an outside accountant to conduct an audit of the fund, as mandated by state law, for the fiscal year. Juengst said the trustees don’t expect the audit to be a "complicated, heavy duty piece of work" since the first year has been largely collecting money rather than allocating funds toward projects. The audit will likely be completed in spring.
Juengst said she expects to give a report on the audit to the Suffolk Legislature in May, as well as to "give them a full picture of how we’re doing."
Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
Snow totals may be less across the South Shore A winter storm is expected to pummel LI as artic air settles in across the region. NewsdayTV meteorologist Geoff Bansen has the forecast.
Snow totals may be less across the South Shore A winter storm is expected to pummel LI as artic air settles in across the region. NewsdayTV meteorologist Geoff Bansen has the forecast.
