Prices for modernizing home and business wastewater systems jumped after they were mandated on the East End. Even with the possibility of generous county and town rebates, sticker shock has caused property owners to put off the inevitable — eventually replacing outdated cesspools, which leach untreated contaminants into groundwater, harbors, bays, and creeks.
Proposition 2 on Suffolk ballots this election cycle would allow Suffolk County to raise the sales tax by one-eighth of 1 percent to support a dedicated Water Quality Restoration Fund. An existing quarter-percent sales tax law would be revised to include the extra charge. The added numbers to the right of the decimal point in Suffolk's current 8.625 percent point-of-sale and services tax could yield up to $4.2 billion over the life of the program. Half would help pay for updating existing sewage treatment plants. Half would go to replacing old septic systems, of which there are about 380,000 in the county.
The money is needed to help speed up the elimination of failing systems, which would improve the health of Suffolk's waterways and further assure clean drinking water for homeowners. The county's League of Women Voters chapters have urged voters to approve Proposition 2, as have nearly all Long Island environmental organizations. Suffolk clearly needs the money, and at 12 cents for every $100 spent, we agree it's a very good deal.