Putnam County committee backs 10% county property assessment reduction for volunteers, amends service requirement to two years

Putnam County legislators on the committee voted to forward a proposed local law that would allow up to a 10% reduction in real property assessment for qualified volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps members. The committee adopted an amendment to lower the county service requirement from five years to two years before the reduced assessment would apply.

The proposed change amends Putnam County code (the county executive’s memo referenced “chapter 220 of article 10” of the county code) to permit a limited local exemption for volunteers. A committee member summarized the change: “So looking at this, again, it's a 10 real property tax exemption for each firefighter, ambulance volunteer volunteer their service to Putnam County. And this is Putnam County taxes only. Not town, not school, not…