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Thiele: CPF dollars could be for septic rebates

JULIE LANE PHOTO | Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. is exploring an idea to use tax money to help homeowners upgrade septic systems.
JULIE LANE PHOTO | Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. is exploring an idea to use tax money to help homeowners upgrade septic systems.

Concerns about how to address what he says is  “the compelling environmental issue of this century,” Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) is looking to begin a conversation on extending the Community Preservation Fund to help provide rebates for property owners upgrading or replacing aged cesspools and septic systems.

He cautions that such exploration is “in the very earliest stages of discussion,” but said that the discussion should explore extending the CPF — a tax collected from new property buyers who pay 2 percent of the purchase price — for another 20 years beyond its 2030 expiration date.

“The loss of open space and its impact on community character was the signature environmental issue from the 1980s on,” Mr. Thiele said. That remains important, but at the same time, water quality has flooded to the forefront.

“No one will want to live on the East End or visit if you can’t swim, fish, boat or drink water,” the legislator said, adding that signs of a coming crisis are already here. “We have seen significant declines that have resulted in a multi-colored outbreak of algal blooms, areas closed to swimming or shellfishing.”

With the costs of implementing necessary green infrastructure to reverse the trend prohibitive and the availability of state or federal money  “questionable at best,” there needs to be an appropriate discussion about extending the CPF and including water quality as an eligible allocation, Mr. Thiele said.

He called it “worthy of a public discussion” in the upcoming legislative season.