Sanitation districts: cleaning up on taxes?

Trash, junk and recycling pick-up: most people don’t think twice about these services, let alone about who takes care of picking up large items that are disposed of, such as furniture or refrigerators. However, some of the Town of Hempstead’s five special sanitation districts have recently raised taxes for their services, which differ widely.

One major aspect of sanitation taxes, which many residents might not notice among their general tax items, is that special sanitary district taxes aren’t the only sanitary tax most residents pay for; Nassau County residents located in districts 2, 6, 7 and 14 are also responsible for paying the Town of Hempstead’s Refuse Disposal District tax — which is currently at a rate of 19.55 per $100,000 — in addition to sanitation district taxes, on their general tax forms. The town charges the tax to pay for the waste disposal, which it handles for all county sanitary districts but District 1.

Nat Swergold, a spokesman for Sanitary District 1, said the district is exempt from the town’s tax because it handles its own waste disposal. District 1, which is based in Lawrence and provides services to Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Inwood, Hewlett, Woodmere, Woodsburgh, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Neck, Hewlett Bay Park and sections of Lynbrook, Valley Stream and Green Acres, has long taken care of its own waste disposal, Swergold said. For decades, the district had its own incineration facility, so it burned its own garbage, until the federal government passed an incinerator ban in the mid-1990s. Despite closing its incineration facility, the district was accustomed to handling its own disposal, Swergold said, and it now directly deals with contractors, who transport waste, junk and recycling to designated facilities. In addition to being exempt from Town of Hempstead trash taxes, District 1 has the second-lowest tax rate in the Town of Hempstead.

In addition to picking up garbage twice a week, and yard waste and recyclables once a week, District 1 provides rear-door pick-up — a service not provided by most sanitary districts — so residents don’t have to put their trash on the curb in front of their house.