Fireman's Exemption

[Go Plainedge!]

Does anyone know the update to this topic?

I believe as per the last board meeting the school was looking for into obtaining extention from the county and the BOE was going to make their decision.

[techie]

Sorry I don't have the info but, looking at some other districts thoughts about the same exemption, it would seem that most want to hold back giving it at this time.

[justfacts]

Again, I visited the other Plainedge site (plaintalkonline.com) and found the folowing reports:

November 15, 2005: A lengthy discussion took place to give selected volunteer Firemen a full school tax break. The lost tax revenue will be replaced by the remainder of the community. Board members reported about .50 per parcel.

{Editor's note: In the December 15, 2005 meeting the amount was reported as $3.80 per parcel.}

December 13, 2005: The topic of property tax exemption for Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Workers, Senior Citizens and Persons with disabilities & Limited Income was discussed.

Before any discussion took place, Board Member Ralph Raymond noted on record to abstain from any and all discussions regarding the Volunteer Fire Department since he is a member.

Initially touched on with a brief discussion, Mr. Mallow moved for a vote in the next Thursday meeting. Board member Cathy Flanagan protested that the Board needed to further discuss their options and not to just move on. Upon discussion it was learned that the Senior Citizen and Persons with Disabilities exemption is currently in place from last year’s yearly vote. The new vote would be for the Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Workers. They have been included in this year’s vote by the State of New York.

After an animated discussion, all Board members agreed to re-support the Senior Citizens and the Disabled. Most decided not to support the tax exemption for Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers except for newest Board Member Frank Presuto. Mr. Presuto claimed that he felt personally secure by the Volunteers and that they deserved the tax exemption. An official vote will take place this Thursday.

December 15, 2005: The Property tax exemption votes were held. The Board voted for the continued exemptions for Senior Citizens and Persons with disabilities. The Board voted against the exemption for Firefighters and Ambulance workers. Board Member Ralph Raymond once again abstained from any vote or discussions involving the Fire Department. Frank Presuto was the only Board Member to support the exemption.
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There are a couple of things that should be said about these notes.

1) The difference between the "cost per parcel" that the Editor of the site noted has to do with the fact that the early BOE qoutes were for cost per parcel.

Since there's no meaningful relationship between PARCELS and your Tax Bill, you have to convert that parcel number to the number of HOMES in the District to size up its impact. That was reported in an earlier post to this site under Reply Nu.5 to the BOE - November 15th meeting.

The cost increase to do this exemption for the average home turned out to be about $3.80, give or take a few percentage points. See that post for all the details - including the savings of about $552.30 per Fireman's Home!

2) The Fireman's deduction has little to do with the total Property Tax levy and the amount of Property Tax collected. It simply shifts some burden ($552) from a few in a selected group to a spread out increased burden of ($4) for all others in the group. Giving, or not giving, this deduction brings no new money into the District from an outside source to reduce or increase the Property Tax burden.

Look to the next post to see however, a more importent piece of information to be dug out from the notes made by the plainedgeonline.com contributer. The notes about the STAR program!

[justfacts]

This refers to the following note from the plaintalkonline.com site commenting on recent BOE meetings:
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December 15, 2005: The Property tax exemption votes were held. The Board voted for the continued exemptions for Senior Citizens and Persons with disabilities. The Board voted against the exemption for Firefighters and Ambulance workers. Board Member Ralph Raymond once again abstained from any vote or discussions involving the Fire Department. Frank Presuto was the only Board Member to support the exemption.

During the community question session, a high ranking official of the North Massapequa Fire Department expressed his displeasure with the Board's non-support.

December 13, 2005: The topic of property tax exemption for Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Workers, Senior Citizens and Persons with disabilities & Limited Income was discussed.

Before any discussion took place, Board Member Ralph Raymond noted on record to abstain from any and all discussions regarding the Volunteer Fire Department since he is a member.

Initially touched on with a brief discussion, Mr. Mallow moved for a vote in the next Thursday meeting. Board member Cathy Flanagan protested that the Board needed to further discuss their options and not to just move on.

Upon discussion it was learned that the Senior Citizen and Persons with Disabilities exemption is currently in place from last year’s yearly vote. The new vote would be for the Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Workers. They have been included in this year’s vote by the State of New York.

After an animated discussion, all Board members agreed to re-support the Senior Citizens and the Disabled. Most decided not to support the tax exemption for Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers except for newest Board Member Frank Presuto. Mr. Presuto claimed that he felt personally secure by the Volunteers and that they deserved the tax exemption. An official vote will take place this Thursday.
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The whole discussion about tax exemptions for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities along with the more discretionary Fireman's exemptions (or transfer of tax burdens within the community), is disturbing. The implication is that this is an totally internal taxation load within Plainedge, at the discretion of the BOE to continue or not.

What is additionally disturbing, that if you go back to the Minutes of the prior December meeting you will find this record:
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Board of Education Minutes
Public Work Session - December 14, 2004

The Board voted 6-0 to extend to qualifying senior citizens and persons with disabilities and limited income, a property tax exemption based on the maximum allowable income of less than $24,000 and decreasing in 5% increments based on income levels established pursuant to Chapter 462 of the New York Real Property Tax Laws passed in 2003.
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The trouble is that Chapter 462 does not pertain to either Senior Citizen exemptions nor to exemptions for Persons with Limited Income and Disabilities!!! That Chapter applies to properties owned by Religious Organizations that are used for Residential Purposes.

The BOE demonstrates a serious misunderstanding of these Tax exemption laws that are vital to the Resident's pocket books!

The proper Real Property Tax Law exemption number for Senior exemptions is Chapter 467 and for the combined exemption for Persons with Limited Income and Disabilities is Chapter 459-c. Exemptions may be claimed under either one of these Chapters, but not both.

But perhaps the most significant Chapter missed in these discussions is the one that gives, almost mandates, that reason for the BOE to adopt these exemptions. It is Chapter 425!

Chapter 425 is the STAR program that returns outside State monies to the District! For each dollar exempted to these chapters, the State takes money from a broader based tax revenue source and provides it to Plainedge, cutting down the total Property Tax revenue collected - but not in any way diminishing the Budgetary Income figure for the School District. It would be utter folly for the BOE to not implement Chapters 467 and 459-c.[/i]

Nowhere in the notes from the other site is there any mention about the STAR program reimbursement money not flowing into this District if the two exemptions are not approved by the BOE! It is in the best interest of the District to gather State money from sources other than Property Tax.

With the BOE's inability to get Chapter numbers correct, and their oft noted inability to provide consistent Cost numbers for many functions, it leaves me with a lack of trust in their knowledge about the proper handling of these exemptions!

[Go Plainedge!]

This was a vote I was concerned about. I agree with giving Seniors and people with disabilities an exemption. I feel that the economy is tough and every little bit helps for those with limited income.

I also agree with the voting for the firemen. As much as I appreciate their service and efforts, I don't believe an exemption is in order. In addition to volunteering, they all have the ability to collect a full income to support their family and household.

Mr. Presuto's persistent's on this matter was disturbing. He was very eager to spend the community's money. What makes him think that I'm willing to spend my money the way he wants to spend his?

If he wants to monetarily support them, then I suggest he make a larger donation to them during their fundraising. I too will continue to make my yearly donation in the denomination that I choose.