Legislation To Improve Water Infrastructure With Sales Tax Increase

County Executive Ed Romaine, Presiding Officer McCaffrey Announce Landmark Legislation to Protect Suffolk’s Drinking Water Bills introduced by Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Senator Monica Martinez will provide funding for sewage treatment and infrastructure 

HAUPPAUGE, NY— Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey were joined today by environmental and labor leaders at a press conference announcing an historic deal that will transform water protection in Suffolk County and pave the way for clean water for future generations.

“I thank Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Senator Monica Martinez all of our environmental and labor leaders for their work to get us to this day,” said Romaine. “Today we begin rewriting the environmental history of this great County.”

“Only through the work of my colleagues in the legislature and the leadership of Assemblyman Thiele and Senator Monica Martinez could this have been accomplished,” said McCaffrey. “Clean water is bipartisan issue, one that cannot be affected by politics, and we came together to provide a better environment for this and future generations.”

The legislation, which has been introduced in Albany, will secure a funding means to provide money for both sewage infrastructure and I/A systems for private homes. The money will be generated by a .0.125% sales tax increase, which is subject to a referendum vote in November 2024.

“We now go to the people so their voices will be heard,” said Romaine. “They will have the chance to say yes or no.”

The I/A systems will remove other nitrogen and other contaminants before they taint drinking water. Sewage infrastructure allows more homes to be connected to sewage treatment facilities, eliminating the use of outdated cesspools.