Nassau County Legislature OKs sewer privatization

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Weltner said that a newly formed oversight committee includes members of SPLASH, the Nature Conservancy, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, local advocates from Bay Park and Cedar Creek, and Denenberg. “We will also be able to monitor in real time what goes on in the plants,” he said, “and we will be reading the daily monitoring reports provided to the DEC.”

Ralph Spagnolo, a member of the Cedar Creek Oversight Committee who worked in various capacities at Bay Park from 1957 to 1971, and then as supervisor of plant maintenance at Cedar Creek until his retirement in 1997, said he did not believe the county would save money with this move.

“We pay a sewer tax, and that money is allocated only for the plants,” Spagnolo said. “These are designated funds. The county can’t use that money anywhere else.” He added that he was concerned about the current employees and the retirement system.

According to county Comptroller George Maragos, however, the changeover will not result in any layoffs, though ultimately, the $11 million in annual savings will not be sufficient to overcome the $65 million deficit expected in 2015.

“While the United Water deal is a solid step toward balancing the financials of the sewer district,” Maragos said, “it is quite clear that other steps must be taken to increase the sewer revenues in order to close the deficit gap.”

The county has enacted legislation to introduce a sewer fee for nonprofits connected to the system in order to generate approximately $14.1 million in new annual revenues, but the fee initiative has been suspended by court order, Maragos said. “The administration and Nassau Interim Finance Authority must find new revenues to fund the sewage and stormwater operations, even under United Water,” he said. “The projected deficits will place increased pressure on county finances, increase borrowing, or result in higher sewer fees, depending on how the administration decides to address the deficits.”
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