Volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers in the Town of Ulster are now eligible for a ten percent property tax exemption.
Supervisor James E. Quigley, III introduced the local law during a Town Board meeting held on Thursday, September 21.
“I’m pleased to present to the Town Board tonight a resolution adopting local law number two of 2023, a local law to allow enrolled volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers with either certification or two years of continuous service to be eligible for a real property tax exemption under real property tax law466-a,” said Quigley.
The text of the law indicates that the exemption is due, in part, to the difficulty local volunteer emergency services are having in attracting and retaining volunteers.
“The Town Board finds that volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers provide essential emergency services to our community and that it is in the best interests of the Town of Ulster to encourage this exceptional volunteerism,” reads the introduction to the law. “The board further finds that providing real property tax exemptions to qualified workers would be an incentive to attract new volunteers and help combat an alarming decline in the number of volunteers serving as active responders to fire and medical emergencies.”
The new local law, which will take effect upon its filing with the New York State Secretary of State, will apply to assessment rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates on or after December 31, 2023. The exemption will be granted to enrolled members of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire department or incorporated voluntary ambulance service residing in the Town of Ulster for a primary residence owned within the municipality.
If the property isn’t used exclusively as the applicant’s primary residence, the portion used for other purposes would still be subject to taxation, with only the remaining portion eligible for the exemption.
Under New York State General Municipal Law, service is defined by the accrual of 50 points in the service award program during an anniversary year. Points are accrued in a variety of ways, including participation in a single training session; participation in a single drill; completion of a single work night; election or appointment to a position within the volunteer company, including as a delegate to a firefighter’s or ambulance worker’s convention; teaching a public education fire prevention class without compensation to a school, non-profit or civics organization; attendance at an official meeting of a volunteer company; and participation in a single response and/or standby.
Volunteers who are either temporarily and totally, or partially and permanently disabled as certified by the workers compensation board, are eligible for five points for each full month of disability.
Un-remarried surviving spouses of volunteers killed in the line of duty are also eligible for the ten percent tax exemption.
Volunteers interested in obtaining the exemption should file with the town assessor’s office on or before the taxable status date as prescribed by the state.
Tom Davis, a longtime volunteer with Ulster Hose No. 5 shared his support for the exemption.
“I’ve been a member of Ulster Hose since we had a horse-drawn apparatus,” Davis said. “I want to thank the board for the action…in regards to the reduction for volunteer firemen and ambulance workers. It’s overdue. It’s going to help fire departments in the town with the recruitment and the retention of members. Ulster Hose may not have a problem with recruitment and retention, but there are fire departments in the town that do, and I’m sure that this is going to assist them in their efforts.”
Deputy Supervisor Clayton Van Kleeck credited the town officials involved in putting the exemption law together.
“Good job getting everybody together on that,” Van Kleeck said. “So thank you very much, the tax assessing department.”
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