2023 New York Laws › STF - State Finance › Article 4-A - State Assistance to Local Government › 54-E - State Assistance to Reimburse Municipalities for Firefighting Costs.

§  54-e. State assistance to reimburse municipalities for firefighting
  costs. 1. As used in this section, unless otherwise expressly stated:
a. "Normal operating expenses" shall  mean  those  costs,  losses  and
  expenses   which   are   ordinarily  associated  with  the  maintenance,
  administration and day-to-day operations of the  fire  department  of  a
  municipality.  Such  expenses  shall include, but not be limited to, the
  ordinary wages of firefighters, administrative and other overhead costs,
  depreciation, the costs  of  litigation  and  the  costs  of  employee's
  benefits, including insurance, disability, death, or health care whether
  or  not  such  costs are incurred as the result of firefighting services
  rendered to property under the jurisdiction of the state of New York.
b. "Firefighting costs" shall mean those  expenses  and  losses  which
  would  not  have been incurred had not the fire in question taken place.
  Such costs shall include, but not be limited to, salaries for  specially
  employed  personnel,  costs  of supplies expended, and the lesser of (1)
  the cost of repairing any destroyed or  damaged  equipment  or  (2)  the
  value  of  such  equipment  immediately preceding the fire. Firefighting
  costs shall not include: normal operating expenses  as  defined  herein,
  any  firefighting  cost for which the municipality is reimbursed under a
  policy  of  insurance  or  any  costs  associated  with  false   alarms,
  regardless of cause.
c. "Claim" shall mean that amount which is equal to those firefighting
  costs  incurred  by  a municipality to the extent that such costs exceed
  the sum of two hundred fifty dollars.
d. "Fire" shall mean any  instance  of  destructive  and  uncontrolled
  burning  on  property  under  the  jurisdiction of the state of New York
  including scorch burns and explosions of  combustible  dust  or  solids,
  flammable liquids and gases.
e.  "Municipality"  shall mean any county, city, village, town or fire
  district, having a fire department consisting  of  personnel,  apparatus
  and   equipment  which  has  as  its  purpose  protecting  property  and
  maintaining the safety and welfare of the public  from  the  dangers  of
  fire, or, in the case of a fire protection district or that portion of a
  town  outside  a  village or fire district, a fire company as defined in
  section three of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law. The  personnel
  of  any  such fire department may be paid employees or unpaid volunteers
  or any combination thereof.
f. "Property under the jurisdiction of the state of  New  York"  shall
  mean real property and improvements thereon and appurtenances thereto in
  which  the  state  of New York holds legal fee simple title and further,
  any real property conveyed or made  available  to  the  New  York  state
  housing  finance  agency  or the dormitory authority of the state of New
  York under agreements for the financing and construction  of  facilities
  for  the  state  university  of  New  York;  provided  however, with the
  exception of property occupied by the state university of New York, such
  property shall not include leasehold interest;  provided  further,  such
  property  shall  not  include  any  property  for  which  a municipality
  receives any payments-in-lieu of taxes or any other payments,  including
  real  property  taxes,  that  are  or  may  be  used  for providing fire
  protection to such property.
2. Any municipality whose fire department has responded to a  fire  on
  property under the jurisdiction of the state of New York:
a.  shall,  within  thirty days after such fire, submit a report, on a
  form prescribed by the office of fire prevention  and  control,  to  the
  office  of  fire  prevention  and control stating the location of such a
  fire and the firefighting costs incurred while fighting such a fire; and
b. may, within thirty days after such a fire, submit  a  claim,  on  a
  form  prescribed  by  the  office  of fire prevention and control to the

  office of fire prevention and control pursuant to the provisions of this
  section.
3.  The  office of fire prevention and control shall review each claim
  to determine if such  claim  shall  be  approved,  reduced,  amended  or
  rejected and shall notify the municipality, within sixty days of receipt
  of  such  claim,  as to his determination. The municipality shall notify
  the office of fire prevention  and  control  within  thirty  days  after
  receipt  of the office of fire prevention and control's notification, as
  to its acceptance or rejection of  such  determination.  Failure  to  so
  notify  the  office  of  fire prevention and control shall constitute an
  acceptance of the determination. If accepted by the  municipality,  such
  acceptance  shall  constitute the final and conclusive determination for
  such claim.  If rejected by the municipality,  such  municipality  shall
  resubmit  its  claim,  within thirty days after receipt of the office of
  fire prevention and control's notification, together  with  its  reasons
  for  objection  and  any  additional documentation which may justify its
  claim.  Upon  receipt  of  a  resubmitted  claim,  the  office  of  fire
  prevention  and control shall review such claim and within sixty days of
  receipt of such resubmitted claim, make a final determination as to  the
  amount  to be approved for such claim. If the municipality shall dispute
  such final determination it may commence an action, within sixty days of
  such final determination, in  the  court  of  claims  which  shall  have
  jurisdiction  to adjudicate the claim and enter judgment, which judgment
  shall be a final determination for purposes of this section and shall be
  payable in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions four and  five
  of this section.
4.  The office of fire prevention and control shall certify all claims
  for which a final determination  has  been  made.  The  office  of  fire
  prevention  and  control  shall  submit  all claims certified during the
  preceding year to the comptroller of the department of audit and control
  on or before April first of each year. Any claim that has been  received
  prior  to  April  first of such year, but for which no certification has
  been made, shall, for purposes of payment, be considered as a claim  for
  the year in which such certification is made.
5.  All  claims certified by the office of fire prevention and control
  shall be paid annually and  shall  be  paid  upon  a  warrant  from  the
  comptroller from funds appropriated in the local assistance fund. In the
  event  such appropriation is insufficient to permit the aggregate annual
  payments authorized under this section, each municipality's payment  for
  any  claim  or  claims  certified  during  the  preceding  year shall be
  decreased proportionally until the  total  payments  are  equal  to  the
  amount appropriated.
6.  The chief fiscal officer of the municipality shall pay the amounts
  received under this section into the fund or  funds  from  which  moneys
  were   expended  to  provide  the  firefighting  services  for  which  a
  reimbursement was made under this section.
7. This section shall not in any  way  impair,  limit  or  modify  the
  rights and obligations of any insurer under any policy of insurance.
8.  The office of fire prevention and control shall annually prepare a
  report on the effectiveness of this section and shall submit such report
  to the legislature. Such report shall include the number and location of
  any fire on property under the jurisdiction of the state  of  New  York,
  the number of claims and the amount of each such claim filed pursuant to
  this  section  and further, the total amount of all claims filed and the
  total amount of payments made under the provisions of this section.  The
  first  such  report  shall  be submitted to the legislature on or before
  June first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine.