The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 5 of article 8 of the Constitution is to continue to allow counties, cities, towns, and villages to exclude from their constitutional debt limits indebtedness incurred for the construction or reconstruction of sewage facilities.

The State Constitution currently provides that indebtedness contracted on or after January 1, 1962 and before January 1, 2014, for the construction or reconstruction of facilities for the conveyance, treatment, and disposal of sewage shall be excluded from the constitutional debt limits of counties, cities, towns, and villages. The effect of the proposed amendment would be to extend for ten years, until January 1, 2024, the period during which sewer debt will be excluded from the constitutional debt limits of counties, cities, towns, and villages.