Thursday, October 1, 2026
State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Marano has ordered the Long Island Power Authority to immediately pay a little more than $3.7 million of $50 million that it owed to school districts across Nassau County.
LIPA had withheld 7.4 percent of the total amount in Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOTS, that it owed, saying that payments to districts were limited by the LIPA Reform Act of 2013. Some 32 area districts sued as a result.
Without Marano’s order, South Shore residents would have seen their property-tax bills rise, or services reduced in the future to make up for lost taxes. LIPA, however, noted in a statement that electric rates will likely increase to pay for the PILOTs.
“What we learned is that we were due the entire amount that they told us we were due,” said Paul Lynch, Lynbrook’s assistant superintendent for finance, operations and information systems. “$2,875,219 — the full amount is due to be paid as a result of the court order.”
LIPA pays PILOTs to districts twice a year, once for July through December, and again for January through June. The amount that LIPA shorted the Lynbrook district for the first half of the year’s budget is roughly $100,000.
“We’re very grateful for the judge’s decision,” Lynch added, “and that will greatly help us for this year. We could’ve been facing a shortfall in the current year, because this all started after the budget year started.”In East Rockaway, The total LIPA PILOT due to the district for the 2015-16 fiscal year is $422,497, pursuant to the agreement that this amount is to be paid in two installments. The first payment received was 50 percent of the total amount due.
“Clearly we have concerns regarding this matter which caused a great deal of uncertainty in the tax levy cap calculation this year,” said East Rockaway Superintendent Lisa Ruiz. “We remain concerned about this situation and will continue to monitor it very closely though out the budget process.
