Passing Of Prop 2 Means Coronavirus Relief For County: Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Voters on Tuesday approved the controversial Proposition 2, which will allow for the transfer of excess funds in Suffolk County's Sewer Assessment Stabilization Reserve Fund to the Suffolk County Taxpayer Trust Fund.

The measure passed by a tally of 269,475 votes to 231,388 votes, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

In addition, the proposition eliminates the requirement that requires interfund transfers be made from the general fund to the sewer fund.

The proposition means $44,409,109 will be transferred to the taxpayer fund in either the 2020 or 2021 fiscal year. That would include $29,409,109 that was required to be paid in a settlement to the sewer fund after Justice Joseph Farneti made a ruling in 2019 in the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. County of Suffolk case.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who has advocated for the measure for months, said the vote was good news for coronavirus relief measures.

Prop 2, he said, protects first responders and other essential workers on the front lines of the pandemic.

Bellone thanked the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, labor unions and law enforcement unions.

"This is just one part of our effort to make sure our region recovers from COVID as quickly as possible," Bellone said. "We are thankful for people in all organizations who stood up to protect the taxpayers, police and essential workers.

"This is a tax stabilization fund for sewer rates ... It is (taxpayers') money and we asked them if they wanted to help address the fiscal crisis caused by COVID, and to protect taxpayers, essential workers and public services."

Bellone has long emphasized that if the proposition was approved, there would still be an adequate amount of funding for stabilizing sewer taxes.

Despite the win on Election Day, Bellone said much more needs to be done to help the region recover from the pandemic and the federal government needs to deliver disaster aid to state and local governments.

Not everyone was pleased by the passing of the measure.

"This is one more unfortunate incident for 2020," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "I’m really looking forward to hitting reset in the new year and moving forward with clean water programs that protect public health and our environment."

The sewer fund contains an excess balance to stabilize sewer district tax rates. Once transferred to the taxpayers fund, the money will be used to reduce or stabilize general property taxes and/or police/public safety property taxes.

For months, Bellone has advocated for the measure to close the looming budget gap.

In July, Bellone began sounding the cry for fiscal relief. Suffolk County, he said, is in a state of financial emergency as it staggers under the weight of the "catastrophic" coronavirus crisis.

Initially, Bellone urged the Suffolk County Legislature to move forward with two bills that he said would be put to voter referendum and could help close a potentially devastating $1.5 billion budget hole; one was withdrawn in July.

Bellone said a meeting of the legislative budget committee was held and a report given by the non-partisan budget review office that "laid out, in stark detail, the emergency this county is facing from the impacts of COVID-19."

The report, he said, indicated that Suffolk County was facing an $800 million budget hole. Over the next 15 months, he said, the county is staring at a $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion budget gap. He said it's time for the federal government to act.

"Our immediate need is $1 billion in federal relief," he said.

While that amount won't solve all the problems and tough choices will need to be made, the funding "will prevent the worst impacts from COVID-19," Bellone said.

He said the county's budget office has put aside $29 million in funding from various departments; resolutions were also put forward to mitigate impacts totaling $77 million.

What is Proposition 2?

Proposition 2 involves an assessment stabilization reserve fund that stabilizes sewer taxes for Suffolk County residents who live in sewer districts. If residents face a tax increase of greater than 3 percent, the reserve fund is used to hold down the rate, Deputy County Executive Peter Scully said.

"But everyone knows it is overfunded," he said. "The proposed use is not a new concept. What is new is that the voters will decide whether repurposing funding" to protect against the impacts of the coronavirus is a good idea.

Suffolk County has in the past voted to use excess funding from the assessment stabilization reserve fund.

The proposition will allow excess funding of $15 million to "help plug the coronavirus gap," Scully said. The bill also ensures that there will still be an adequate amount of funding for stabilizing sewer taxes, Scully said.

Esposito, however, said the measure allows Suffolk County "to raid our Drinking Water Protection Program to fill a short-term budget gap."

That program, she said, improves sewer infrastructure; fights nitrogen pollution; protects shorelines; ensures safe drinking water; and is supported by over 85 percent of voters.

She added, "Prop 2 is an anti-environmental ballot initiatives that puts our water at risk."