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Mineola board adopts local law to align volunteer firefighter tax exemption with state rule; service requirement cut to two years
Summary
The Village of Mineola adopted a local law to match New York State’s real property tax statute allowing a 10% exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers and to reduce the village service requirement from five years to two.
The Village of Mineola Board of Trustees on Monday adopted a local law to align its volunteer firefighter and ambulance worker property tax exemption with a recently enacted New York State provision and to shorten the village service requirement for the 10% exemption.
Village attorney Mr. Gibbons told the board that Mineola has long had a 10% property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and that “New York State recently...enacted...real property tax law section 466‑a which allows for the 10% exemption.” He said the state made the exemption uniform statewide and asked municipalities to opt in by Dec. 9, 2025. Gibbons added the only substantive change in Mineola’s local law is that “the volunteer firefighter will have to serve for 2 years rather than 5 years to earn the exemption.”
The change preserves the 10% exemption for qualifying volunteers while making the local eligibility period consistent with the county’s two‑year requirement. Mayor Rivera and trustees voiced support for the measure before the board voted to adopt the local law.
The board’s action was procedural: the board voted to adopt the local law after a motion by Deputy Mayor Deborah May Sartore and a second by Trustee Clark. The meeting record shows the motion carried on a roll call vote.
The new local law brings Mineola’s code into alignment with state Real Property Tax Law §466‑a and changes only the local service requirement to two years; existing exemptions and the 10% benefit remain intact for those who qualify under the amended rule.
The board did not discuss an effective date in the public presentation; the transcript records the county‑level opt‑in deadline cited by Mr. Gibbons as Dec. 9, 2025.
