Suffolk legislators shelve sewer expansion plan
Adrienne Esposito leads environmentalists, labor unions and building trade groups at a rally outside the Suffolk County center in Riverhead to support a referendum on a sales tax increase to fund wastewater treatment. Credit: John Roca
Suffolk County legislators on Wednesday shelved a plan for a major expansion of wastewater treatment that would have included a sales tax increase to pay for it.
Members of the county legislature, where Republicans hold a majority, voted largely along party lines to stall proposals to consolidate the county's 27 sewer districts and advance a voter referendum on a .125% tax increase.
Both were sent back to the Budget and Finance Committees, making it unlikely that the referendum would be approved before an Aug. 4 deadline to put it on the November ballot.
Representatives of County Executive Steve Bellone say both measures are needed to fund and implement the county Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan, a 50-year, $4 billion effort to reverse nitrogen pollution in Suffolk’s ground and surface waters.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A plan for a major expansion of wastewater treatment in Suffolk County hit a dead end Wednesday in the county legislature.
- Legislators voted largely along party lines to stall proposals to consolidate the county's sewer districts and advance a voter referendum on a sales tax hike to pay for the expansion.
- Republican legislators cited concerns that three-quarters of the tax revenue would go toward individual septic systems, which they said would primarily benefit homeowners on the East End.
Legislative Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) said his caucus had concerns that three-quarters of the sales tax revenue would go toward individual septic systems, which they believe would primarily benefit homeowners on the East End.
Legislators voted 10-6 on both the consolidation and sales tax proposals.
McCaffrey said legislators could seek changes at the state level and try again in the future. Bills authorizing both proposals had cleared the State Legislature earlier this year.
“We are all committed to clean water here,” McCaffrey said. “I think we need to take another crack at this in terms of state legislation to get it right."
Deputy County Executive Peter Scully countered that the money slated for sewers could be used as a local match to secure additional state and federal funds. The measure also would extend the existing 0.25% sales tax-funded Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Fund — which also in part funds sewers — until 2060.
More than three dozen people signed up to speak in support of the plans, including environmentalists who rallied earlier Wednesday alongside labor unions and building trade representatives.
“It is unconscionable that they want to silence the public on such a critical issue,” said Adrienne Esposito, of the Farmingdale-based environmental nonprofit Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “Delaying the vote for another year means more water degradation, more pollution and a greater cost to clean it up.”
Bellone, a Democrat whose 12-year term ends in December, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The tax increase had been expected to generate $3.1 billion between 2024 and 2060 to fund sewer expansions and grants for high-tech septic systems. Nearly three-quarters of Suffolk properties have outdated cesspools that do not remove nitrogen before releasing it into the ground.
A 0.125% sales tax increase would boost taxes on a $1,000 purchase by $1.25 compared with the current 8.625% tax rate.
Also Wednesday, legislators voted 8-8, largely along party lines, to recess a separate public hearing on a proposal to create an appeals process for people who report child abuse claims in a situation where a caseworker decides there is no credible evidence. The tie vote means the bill does not move forward.
Sponsored by Legis. Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), it would have created a panel that could determine whether further investigation was needed.
Republican legislators said the measure could open the county to litigation largely due to privacy concerns. Hahn had said the bill addressed those concerns because names and identifying information would be redacted, but she said she hoped to make further amendments.
The measure was prompted by the death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, who froze to death on Jan. 17, 2020, after his father, Michael Valva, and father's fiancee, Angela Pollina, forced Thomas to sleep in an unheated garage in their Center Moriches home. After Thomas’ death, it was revealed that Suffolk CPS received dozens of complaints of abuse but did not remove Thomas or his brother from the home.
Valva and Pollina were found guilty of second-degree murder in separate trials and are serving 25 years to life in prison.
Hahn noted that during their trials, school officials had said they made numerous CPS complaints that were determined to be unfounded.
East Moriches Elementary School psychologist Renee Emin, who knew Thomas, advocated for the bill and spoke in favor of it during the public hearing. She said that in Thomas' case, she had made 30 to 50 complaints to CPS that were determined to be unfounded.
“I can’t continue to put faith in a system that I know has large, gaping holes,” she said. “So, I need your help to fix it.”
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.
