2023 New York Laws › RPT - Real Property Tax › Article 4 - Exemptions › Title 2 - Private Property › 466-A*2 - Volunteer Firefighters and Volunteer Ambulance Workers.

* §  466-a. Volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers. 1.
Real property owned by an enrolled member of an  incorporated  volunteer
fire  company,  fire  department  or  incorporated  voluntary  ambulance
service or such enrolled member and spouse residing in any county  shall
be  exempt  from  taxation  to  the  extent  of up to ten percent of the
assessed value of such property for  city,  village,  town,  part  town,
special  district,  school  district,  fire district or county purposes,
exclusive of special assessments, provided that the governing body of  a
city,  village,  town, school district, fire district or county, after a
public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance  or  resolution  providing
therefor.
2.  Such  exemption  shall  not be granted to an enrolled member of an
incorporated volunteer fire company,  fire  department  or  incorporated
voluntary ambulance service residing in such county unless:
(a) the applicant resides in the city, town or village which is served
by  such  incorporated  volunteer  fire  company  or  fire department or
incorporated voluntary ambulance service;
(b) the property is the primary residence of the applicant;
(c)  the  property  is  used  exclusively  for  residential  purposes;
provided  however, that in the event any portion of such property is not
used exclusively for the applicant's residence but  is  used  for  other
purposes,  such  portion  shall be subject to taxation and the remaining
portion only shall  be  entitled  to  the  exemption  provided  by  this
section; and
(d)   the  applicant  has  been  certified  by  the  authority  having
jurisdiction  for  the  incorporated  volunteer   fire   company,   fire
department, or voluntary ambulance service as an enrolled member of such
incorporated  volunteer  fire  company,  fire  department,  or voluntary
ambulance service, as determined  by  the  governing  body  of  a  city,
village,  town,  school  district,  fire  district  or county; provided,
however, that such governing body  shall  establish  a  minimum  service
requirement  for  each  applicant  between two years of service and five
years of service. It  shall  be  the  duty  and  responsibility  of  the
governing  body  of  each  municipality,  school  district  and/or  fire
district which adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution  pursuant  to
this section to determine the procedure for certification.
3. Any enrolled member of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire
department  or incorporated voluntary ambulance service who accrues more
than twenty years of active service and is so certified by the authority
having jurisdiction for the incorporated volunteer  fire  company,  fire
department or incorporated voluntary ambulance service, shall be granted
the  ten  percent  exemption  as  authorized  by  this  section  for the
remainder of his or her life as long as his or her primary residence  is
located  within  such county provided that the governing body of a city,
village, town, school district, fire district or county, after a  public
hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution providing therefor.
4.   Un-remarried  spouses  of  volunteer  firefighters  or  volunteer
ambulance workers killed in the line of duty. Any local law or ordinance
adopted pursuant to this section may be separately amended, or  a  local
law,  ordinance  or  resolution may be separately adopted to continue an
exemption or reinstate  a  pre-existing  exemption  claimed  under  such
statutes  by  an  enrolled  member  of  an  incorporated  volunteer fire
company, fire department, or incorporated voluntary  ambulance  service,
to such deceased enrolled member's un-remarried spouse if such member is
killed in the line of duty; provided, however, that:
(a)  such  un-remarried  spouse  is  certified by the authority having
jurisdiction  for  the  incorporated  volunteer   fire   company,   fire
department   or   incorporated   voluntary   ambulance   service  as  an

un-remarried spouse of an enrolled member of such incorporated volunteer
fire  company,  fire  department  or  incorporated  voluntary  ambulance
service who was killed in the line of duty; and
(b)  such  deceased volunteer had been an enrolled member for at least
five years; and
(c) such deceased volunteer had been receiving the exemption prior  to
his or her death.
5.   Un-remarried   spouses  of  deceased  volunteer  firefighters  or
volunteer ambulance workers. Any local law or ordinance adopted pursuant
to this section may be separately amended, or a local law, ordinance  or
resolution  may  be  separately  adopted  to  continue  an  exemption or
reinstate a pre-existing  exemption  to  an  un-remarried  spouse  of  a
deceased enrolled member of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire
department,  or  incorporated  voluntary  ambulance  service;  provided,
however, that:
(a) such un-remarried spouse is  certified  by  the  authority  having
jurisdiction   for   the   incorporated  volunteer  fire  company,  fire
department  or  incorporated   voluntary   ambulance   service   as   an
un-remarried  spouse  of a deceased enrolled member of such incorporated
volunteer  fire  company,  fire  department  or  incorporated  voluntary
ambulance service; and
(b)  such  deceased volunteer had been an enrolled member for at least
twenty years; and
(c) such deceased volunteer and un-remarried spouse had been receiving
the exemption for such property prior to the death of such volunteer.
6. Application for such exemption shall be filed with the assessor  or
other  agency,  department  or  office  designated  by the municipality,
school district and/or fire  district  offering  such  exemption  on  or
before  the  taxable  status  date  on  a  form  as  prescribed  by  the
commissioner.
7. No applicant who is a volunteer firefighter or volunteer  ambulance
worker  who  by reason of such status is receiving any benefit under the
provisions of this article on the effective date of this  section  shall
suffer  any diminution of such benefit because of the provisions of this
section.
8. Any city, village, town, school district, fire district  or  county
that  currently, through local law, ordinance or resolution, provides an
exemption from taxation  for  an  enrolled  member  of  an  incorporated
volunteer  fire  company,  fire  department  or  incorporated  voluntary
ambulance service, such enrolled member and spouse, or  an  un-remarried
spouse  shall  be  authorized  to  continue  to  provide such exemption,
provided however,  such  city,  village,  town,  school  district,  fire
district  or  county shall adopt a local law, ordinance or resolution to
conform to the provisions of this section  no  later  than  three  years
after the effective date of this section.
9.   Notice   to   affected  municipalities.  On  or  before  December
thirty-first, two thousand twenty-two, it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the
commissioner  or her or his designees to notify or cause to be notified,
in a manner prescribed by the commissioner, the chief executive  officer
of  each  and  any  municipality  in  which former sections four hundred
sixty-six-a, four hundred sixty-six-b, four  hundred  sixty-six-c,  four
hundred sixty-six-d, four hundred sixty-six-f, four hundred sixty-six-g,
four   hundred  sixty-six-h,  four  hundred  sixty-six-i,  four  hundred
sixty-six-j, and four hundred sixty-six-k of the real property  tax  law
apply,  of  the  provisions  of  the chapter of the laws of two thousand
twenty-two that added this section.
* NB There are 2 § 466-a's