CATSKILL — The Greene County Legislature passed a law Monday that will provide county tax exemptions to all Greene County volunteer firefighters and medical emergency personnel as a way to recognize their willingness to serve and protect their neighbors without compensation.
The law will allow all active Greene County first responders to be exempt from county taxation “to the extent of 10% of the assessed value of property for county purposes, exclusive of special assessments.”
Firefighters and ambulance workers with 20 years of service will be granted exemptions for the remainder of their lives, provided they retain their Greene County home as their primary residence. The law will also grant the exemption to unremarried surviving spouses of volunteer first responders who actively served for 20 years or more.
The new tax exemption will not affect benefits that volunteer Greene County first responders have in place, such as Length of Service Award Program benefits. Henry Coombs, a firefighter in Greene County with 65 years of experience, said his concern is that he would see a diminution in his monthly check. Section 8 of the law protects these benefits, stating, “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 law...shall suffer any diminution of benefits.”
However, any first responder claiming the county tax exemption would be required to forego the income tax credit they have in place. For this reason, first responders may want to calculate the credits they would receive from the county exemption prior to applying, to ensure the change would make financial sense.
In some instances, said Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden, the income tax credit first responders already receive might be greater than the tax exemption passed Monday.
Local first responders will see their reduction in taxes within the next year, as the law will take effect immediately upon filing under the New York State Secretary of State.
Greene County residents can expect to see a slight increase in their county taxes, according to Ray Ward, director of Greene County Real Property Tax Services. County taxpayers will pay a “potential maximum county tax of $3.17 on an average single family house valued at $255,000,” according to Ward.
Greene County Legislator Harry Lennon, D-Cairo, lauded the law’s passage.
“If it wasn’t for [the volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers] I don’t know what we would do,” Lennon said. “The service they provide is unprecedented...amazing.”
The Legislature passed the law in response to a drastic decline in the number of volunteer first responders in recent years, which is, according to the law, “one of the most critical problems facing a number of communities in Greene County.”
The urgent need to attract new volunteers is caused, in part, by a large number of retirements. If the need remained unaddressed, the law states, “The health and safety of citizens served by the volunteer firefighter and emergency medical personnel corps may be jeopardized.”
Anyone interested in volunteering as an EMS in Greene County, go to green-ems.com. For more information on volunteer firefighter opportunities, visit fireinyou.org/greene/.