Sachem board to hold public hearings on firefighter and senior tax exemptions

The Sachem Central School District Board of Education voted Oct. 22 to schedule separate public hearings on two real‑property tax exemptions, district officials said.

Superintendent Michelle Trombetta described proposed language that would reduce the required years of volunteer service to qualify for the 10% school‑tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from five years to two. District and town officials told trustees the change would be largely a recruitment tool and have a negligible fiscal impact on local tax rolls, affecting very few properties, Trombetta said. Trustees agreed to move that change to a public hearing so the board can take formal action before the March 1 deadline required by state law.

Trustees also discussed potential changes to the senior‑citizen and limited‑income disabled exemption. Trombetta summarized the district’s choices since a 2023 state law change that expanded the possible income ceiling: under prior rules the maximum household income for a 50% exemption was about $29,000 with a sliding scale up to roughly $37,400; the state now allows districts to adopt a higher threshold (up to $50,000 with a sliding scale to $58,400). Town assessors provided preliminary estimates of local impacts: Smithtown’s estimate was roughly $58 annually shifted per non‑senior taxpayer under the higher threshold; Brookhaven’s estimate was about $35–36. Trustees emphasized that once raised, the district cannot later lower the income ceiling without another public process and that some definitions of income (an "Option 2" that would include 401(k) and annuity distributions) could offset the benefit for some retirees.

Board members asked for more data — including the number of current households that qualify under existing thresholds and exemption impact reports from the assessors — and directed administration to draft and notice a separate public hearing for the senior/disabled exemption. Trombetta said the district will get wording from towns and counsel and provide exemption‑impact reports to trustees in upcoming communications.

The decision to notice public hearings follows a public comment from a resident who said she had previously asked about the senior exemption and sought clearer follow‑up. Administration acknowledged receipt of that resident’s email and committed to follow up.

What’s next: the board will publicly notice each hearing, take public comment during the hearing, and may adopt an exemption resolution the same night or at a later meeting. Any change would be effective for the upcoming tax year only if adopted before the March 1 statutory deadline.