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Middle Country board reviews property-tax exemptions; approves firefighter and senior exemption changes
Summary
At a Board of Education meeting, district officials reviewed property-tax exemptions and approved changes affecting volunteer firefighter eligibility and senior income limits; presenters said the district's exemptions shift a small portion of the district levy while wholly exempt properties account for a much larger share of the tax base shift.
The Middle Country Central School District Board of Education reviewed a presentation on local property-tax exemptions and approved changes affecting volunteer firefighter eligibility and the senior-citizen limited-income exemption during a regular board meeting.
Dr. Rella, the district presenter, told the board that a tax exemption reduces a property's assessed value before taxes are calculated and that exemptions shift tax burden from one property owner to other taxpayers rather than lowering total tax collections. “An exemption is a type of tax break that reduces your property's assessed value before your taxes have been calculated,” Dr. Rella said.
The presentation said the district's tax levy for the year was $160,000,000 and that the district's assessed value figures discussed during the presentation were 62,500,000 (as presented). Dr. Rella told the board that exemptions the district can opt into shift roughly $2,000,000 of the levy (about 1.3 percent of the levy) while automatic or wholly exempt properties account for an amount the presentation said totaled about $38,000,000 of shifted assessed value. The presenter also said the pool of properties in the district is about 19,581 and that more than 9,000 of those properties participate in at least one exemption program.
On volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers, Dr. Rella outlined Section 466 (real-property exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers) and the state-proposed change to lower the years-of-service requirement. The board confirmed the years-of-service requirement is now two years (reduced from five). A board member clarified the record after a moment of contradictory phrasing in the presentation: “It's still 2 years. Yes. They changed it,” the board member said.
For the senior-citizens limited-income and disability exemption, the presenter said the district received town data in June showing a maximum potential tax-base shift of $265,208 if every newly eligible owner applied and were approved. The board approved an increase in the income limit for that exemption; the exact new income-eligibility figure reported in the transcript was not stated clearly. Dr. Rella repeatedly advised that residents must apply for exemptions through the Town of Brookhaven.
Dr. Rella also explained process and timing: the board adopts exemptions at its annual reorganization meeting in July, changes to exemptions require a public hearing, and application and qualification for exemptions are handled by the town assessor. The presenter cautioned that changes in town and county exemptions, grievances and mortgage-escrow factors can also change an individual tax bill even if the district levy changes only by the amount the board sets.
The board's actions on the two exemptions were recorded during the meeting; Dr. Rella provided the district's analysis of potential maximum dollar shifts and said the district had to rely on town data to make final calculations.
The presentation closed with Dr. Rella advising homeowners to review their property-tax bill and mortgage statements and to contact the Town of Brookhaven to apply for exemptions or for more detail.
