Suffolk County gears up for Proposition 2 lawsuit

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone is preparing for a legal fight with the Pine Barrens Society over a ballot measure to tap an environmental fund to stabilize property taxes, according to the Southampton Press.

The results of the vote on Proposition 2 have yet to be certified, and lots of absentee ballots remain to be counted, but a majority of Election Day voters approved it. Passage would require $44.4 million to be moved from a sewer tax stabilization fund, raised by a sales tax, to a fund to “reduce or stabilize” property taxes.

The Pine Barrens Society alleges that would be misuse of funds set aside for water quality protection. Bellone argues that the sewer tax fund has tax stabilization at its core and that the county needs the funds given budgetary challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. [Southampton Press] — Dennis Lynch