Grant programs · Westchester County

Septic grants in Westchester County: four programs, and one of them is free

Westchester has more septic assistance than any county in the Hudson Valley — and the most generous of the four is the one almost nobody has heard of. It offers free design and repairs in the New York City watershed, with the county and contractor signing a three-way contract so you never lay out any money.

1. Four programs — work out which one is yours

Westchester is unusually well served, and the programs do not compete: several people qualify for more than one. Read this before you call anyone.

2. The free one: Septic System Rehabilitation & Sewer Connection Program

Launched by Westchester County in March 2026, this program rehabilitates failing septic systems and connects properties to an abutting sewer line, for property owners in the New York City watershed. Its purpose is to reduce sewage effluent reaching the Croton and Kensico watersheds.

Who qualifies

Income-eligible commercial and non-commercial property owners with an on-site septic system in the watershed, who meet one of these two conditions:

1. A property line within 100 feet of a sewer line; or
2. A failing septic system with no available sewer line within 100 feet of the property line, for three years from the year the application is submitted.

How to apply

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Millie Magraw, Program Coordinator
📞 (914) 995-2090 · Fax (914) 995-9093
Westchester County Planning Department, Septic System Rehabilitation & Sewer Connection Program, 148 Martine Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601

3. The NYS Septic System Replacement Fund in Westchester

The state fund is separate from the county programme above and works on the standard reimbursement model: you pay, then claim back. Eligibility is tied to 22 designated waterbodies.

How much you get back

The enhanced tier is a performance standard: the system must be designed to reduce total nitrogen in treated effluent to 19 mg/L, or measurably reduce phosphorus or PFAS. More on what these systems are and cost →

Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Program Outline, December 2025 edition. The 19 mg/L threshold and the phosphorus/PFAS alternative are the Fund’s own definition of an Enhanced Septic System — a state rule, not a county one.

Many county pages across New York still quote only the older 50% / $10,000 tier. Ask about the enhanced tier by name rather than assuming the figure you are shown is the ceiling.

The 22 eligible waterbodies

Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Priority Waterbody List, updated 14 July 2026. Waterbody names and DEC segment IDs are copied exactly. The "basin / roughly where" column is our own orientation guide from the basin code and is not part of the state list. Muscoot River, Upper (1302-0050) is listed under both Westchester and Putnam — its headwaters flow into Kirk Lake in Mahopac, Town of Carmel, on the Putnam side. If this is your waterbody, ask which county administers your application. See the Putnam page for more on Upper Muscoot →

Applying

Westchester's local programme contact for the state fund is David Kvinge — 📞 914-995-2089. Call before hiring anyone: in most counties you must be approved before work starts, and grants are not awarded retroactively.

4. Septic maintenance reimbursement — the one people miss

If you pay Westchester County sewer district taxes but your home is actually on a septic system, you may be entitled to money back on routine maintenance. Since September 2008 the county has helped pay for septic tank pump-outs and inspections for residential and commercial properties inside county sewer tax districts.

To claim you need a paid invoice for the work and a property tax bill showing the property is subject to county sewer district taxes. Reimbursement is only made for work performed by licensed professional engineers, registered architects, and septic collectors and contractors licensed by Westchester County — which is a good reason to check the county lists in section 6 before you book anyone.

The reimbursement is handled by the Department of Environmental Facilities, not the Health Department. Print the county's brochure, complete the reimbursement checklist and form on its inside panel, and post it to WCDEF at the address in the brochure.

📞 (914) 813-5447 for reimbursement questions.

Not sure whether you are in a county sewer district? The county publishes a Sewer District Map — worth checking, because paying sewer tax while running a septic system is exactly the situation this programme exists for.

5. Pumping is not optional in some towns

The county also runs a Septic Management Program under which the Health Department licenses and trains septic company workers, and requires contractors who pump out septic systems to file a report with the Health Department for every collection they make. That paper trail is why the county can tell whether your tank has been serviced.

Find out what is actually buried in your garden

Westchester keeps septic system records by property and will release the full record on request. Complete the county's Septic System Sketch Request form — a request for approved well and/or subsurface sewage treatment system records — and email it in. You will need the address, the original tax map designation of the lot, the municipality, the year the house was built, and the dates of any bedroom additions. Your town's tax assessor or building department can help you find those.

Include a daytime phone number, and allow time: if the records sit in the county's archives, retrieval can take up to 10 business days. For help, call Laurie Hauer on (914) 995-7285.

If you only want complaints or recent violations on a property rather than the full record, that is a separate and quicker records request — send the street address to the Health Department. Worth doing before you buy a house, and before you dig anywhere near the system.

6. Finding a licensed contractor

Westchester is one of the counties that licenses this work directly, which makes checking easy. The Department of Health publishes two lists on its Septic System Management page:

• Licensed Septic Contractors — the current edition is dated February 2025. These are the firms licensed to build and repair systems.
• Licensed Septic Collectors — the firms licensed to pump out and haul away what comes out of your tank.

The split mirrors Putnam's: installers and haulers are licensed separately, and some firms hold both. The maintenance reimbursement in section 4 only pays out for work done by people on these lists, or by licensed professional engineers and registered architects — so checking first can be worth money, not just peace of mind.

Licensing is not a formality here. Contractors apply and renew through the county, must file proof of workers' compensation and disability insurance on state forms C-105.2 and DB-120.1, and the rules they work under are the county's Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Regulations, effective 1 April 2022, made under Article VIII of the Laws of Westchester County. Ask any contractor for their Westchester County licence and check it against the list before you sign anything.

7. Private well water — the PFAS pilot

If your water comes from a private well rather than town water, New York State's Private Well PFAS Testing and Mitigation Rebate Pilot covers Westchester County. The program offers free testing, and rebates up to $5,000 for whole-house treatment systems or $1,000 for point-of-use filters in homes where PFOA or PFOS exceeds 10 parts per trillion.

For full details on how the programme works, what you can claim, and how to apply, see the New York PFAS rebate guide. For county-specific information and to confirm the current programme contact, start with the Westchester County Department of Health or the NYSDOH information line on 800-458-1158.

8. Related

• The NYS Septic System Replacement Fund, explained in plain English
• Septic grants in Putnam County
• Septic grants in Dutchess County
• Septic grants in Ulster County
• What septic pumping costs and how often you need it

Last checked 24 August 2026. Sources: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation Septic System Replacement Fund programme page and Priority Waterbody List dated 14 July 2026; Westchester County press release announcing the Septic System Rehabilitation and Sewer Connection Program, March 2026; Westchester County Department of Health Septic System Management pages; Westchester County Environment Department Septic System Maintenance Reimbursement page; Town of Lewisboro and Town of Yorktown septic pages. Programmes change and allocations run out — confirm current figures with the county before spending money.