GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says it paid $165 million in local village, town, city, county and school taxes last across nine Hudson Valley and Catskill counties.

This area covers the water supply system that serves nearly half of the state’s population. With this year’s payments, DEP says it remains a top taxpayer throughout many municipalities and schools in and near the watershed region, paying 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.

In Sullivan County, DEP covered more than half of the entire tax levy for the Tri-Valley Central School District in Grahamsville. On 131 Sullivan County parcels, DEP paid $4.5 million in county property taxes and $11 million in school taxes. 

In Ulster County, 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.

“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.”

DEP pays property and school taxes at full assessed value on all land, reservoirs, dams and structures across the approximately 230,000 acres it owns or controls throughout the 2,000- square-mile watershed, including the tens of thousands of acres open to the public for recreational purposes such as hiking, fishing, hunting and boating, as well as on property used for agricultural purposes. Piping and aqueducts used to convey water are tax-exempt.

In 2023, DEP was among the top taxpayers in numerous municipalities and school districts across the watershed region. For example, in Delaware County DEP taxes made up about a third of the total tax levy for the Deposit Central School District and two-thirds of the Downsville Central School District, with significant payments to others throughout the county.

“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.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing approximately 1 billion gallons of drinking water each day to nearly 10 million residents, including 8.8 million in New York City and a million more in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, and Ulster counties.