Election 2020: For Riverhead voters, three propositions on back of ballot

Whether voting by mail, early or in person this year, remember to flip over your ballot. There are several propositions for voters on the North Fork to consider this year.

The first would increase the term length for Suffolk County legislators from two to four years. If approved, the four-year term length would take effect starting with legislators sworn in Jan. 1, 2022, and the existing 12-year term limit would remain in place.

The second proposition asks voters to authorize transferring excess funds from the county’s sewer assessment stabilization reserve to the taxpayer trust fund. It was proposed by County Executive Steve Bellone as a way to stabilize the county budget and avoid layoffs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Specifically, the proposition would enable $15 million to be moved from the sewer fund to the general fund and also cancel the court-ordered repayment of $29.4 million previously borrowed from the fund.

Approval of the proposition would also repeal a section of the law that requires further annual repayment from the general fund to the sewer assessment stabilization reserve fund. Approximately $154 million is still owed to that fund, according to the proposition. 

In Riverhead Town, voters are once again asked to consider a proposition to increase the term length of the supervisor to four years, from the current two years — a proposition that has been floated and rejected in 2016 and 2007. If approved this time around, it would go into effect to the supervisor elected in 2021.