For Drinking Water

Suffolk voters will be asked on Tuesday to consider a law intended to tighten financial aspects of the county’s Drinking Water Protection Program, which is funded by a quarter-percent sales tax. It should be approved.

Suffolk officials have taken money out of the water protection fund several times since it was created in 1987, mostly to balance the county budget and avoid the political damage associated with raising taxes or cutting services. The proposal, “A Charter Law Amending the 1/4 Percent Drinking Water Program . . . ,” would put an end to such diversions. It would also force the county to repay the money the Legislature improperly took from the fund in earlier years and, at the same time, create a $29.4 million open-space and water-quality reserve to be spent by 2020.

East Hampton residents should take note of two things. The measure could result in county protection program money becoming available for sewage treatment improvements and new, environmentally friendly nitrogen-removal septic systems, necessary projects that are called for in a recent wastewater study commissioned by the town. This ballot measure, if approved, could help avoid a dangerous precedent that would almost certainly undermine the effectiveness of land preservation here and keep open the likelihood of additional raids.

A community like East Hampton’s that saw the administration of former Town Supervisor Bill McGintee brought down over the misuse of a dedicated fund, should be especially eager to keep politicians’ sticky fingers off a key environmental program’s budget. Vote yes.