As soon as the village files notice with the N.Y.S. Secretary of State, volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers who live in Maybrook will be entitled to a property tax exemption.

Following a public hearing Monday on the proposal, the Maybrook Village Board unanimously approved a law to provide a ten percent tax exemption for eligible volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers.

Board members, including trustees Daryl Capozzoli and William Treco, said passage of the new law was crucial to attracting new volunteers to local fire and ambulance services. Both groups struggle to enroll new members.

“Finding volunteers is extra, extra difficult,” Capozzoli said as he supported the measure.
The ten percent exemption would be taken off the volunteer’s assessed property valuation. So, if your home is assessed at $200,000, the exemption would reduce your property valuation to $180,000 and you would pay village taxes on that $180,000 instead of $200,000. The exemption would also apply to un-remarried spouses of volunteers.

But you must meet certain eligibility requirements, which would be certified by the fire department or ambulance service, including at least a five-year enrollment in the fire or ambulance service which serves Maybrook.

Other provisions of the law allow for eligible volunteers who serve more than 20 years to be granted the exemption for the rest of their lives.