NEVERSINK- It may come as a surprise to learn that a top property taxpayer for 2023 in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions is the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP paid $165 million in local village, town, city, county, and school taxes throughout 2023 across nine counties covering the water supply system that serves nearly half of the state’s population.
The DEP pays taxes on the full-assessed value of land, structures, easements, and most water supply infrastructure across the approximately 230,000 acres owned or controlled by New York City for the water supply system. Piping and aqueducts used to convey water are tax exempt.
“While delivering the highest quality water possible to half the State’s population, DEP is also proud to help support our neighbors and host communities who make it possible,” said DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “From economic development incentives to watershed protection programs and full local property taxes, DEP directly infuses hundreds of millions of dollars to local communities each year throughout the water supply region.”
Of the total $165 million in taxes DEP paid, more than $105 million went directly to public schools throughout the nine-county region. For example, in Sullivan County, the DEP covered more than half of the entire tax levy for the Tri-Valley Central School District. In Ulster County, the DEP taxes covered more than a third of the Ellenville Central School District tax levy and close to 20 percent of the Onteora Central School District’s total levy.
DEP also has an authorized head count of more than 1,000 employees throughout the upstate watershed and water supply system.
“Most of those employees call the water supply region home, with many who raise families, shop, own homes, pay taxes and educate their children in the myriad communities we work hand-in-hand with to deliver the best quality water possible,” said DEP Deputy Commissioner Paul V. Rush of the Bureau of Water Supply.
In 2023, the DEP paid more county government property taxes than any other property owner in Ulster, Delaware, Putnam, and Schoharie counties, and was the second highest in Westchester County.
