Islip rejected legal pot shops in 2021 — and again four years later. Earlier this week, the town board tabled a proposal to allow regulated marijuana dispensaries, indefinitely delaying a vote that would have put Islip alongside Brookhaven, Babylon, Riverhead, and Southampton in permitting cannabis retail.
Residents’ concerns about potential quality‑of‑life impacts, falling property values and even crime are understandable — but the reality is that marijuana legalization is here to stay in New York. With neighboring towns in Suffolk County already benefiting from significant tax revenue, it’s increasingly impractical for Islip to forgo this tax revenue opportunity.
Babylon exemplifies this new reality. It raised its tax levy by 9.9% in both 2024 and 2025, due to ongoing fiscal pressures. A 10% increase in employee health premiums alone contributed to a $2.2 million increase in costs this year. In 2024, the town collected $2.6 million in marijuana-related tax revenue, with another $871,000 going to Suffolk County. Though this amounted to just 1.58% of Babylon’s $164.5 million budget, it was enough to cover the health-premium increase and keep tax rates lower.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Newsday (paywall)
______________________
Paul Dreyer is a Cities Policy Analyst at the Manhattan Institute.
Photo by Emilija Manevska/Getty Images