OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Julius Leone, president of the Fredonia Volunteer Fire Department, speaks to the Pomfret Town Board at its July meeting. Seated is Larry Barter, secretary for the volunteer company.

Officials with Fredonia’s volunteer fire department asked the Pomfret Town Board to enact a new 10% property tax cut for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers.

Julius Leone, president of Fredonia’s “vollys,” and secretary Larry Barter offered a presentation about it at the board’s July meeting. They hope that, with the department’s volunteer numbers falling, it will help with recruitment.

New York passed the legislation in December.

According to the state Department of Taxation and Finance, “The new law gives municipalities, school districts and fire districts throughout the State the option to provide a property tax exemption of up to 10% to volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers. Any such exemption would be valid only on property used exclusively for residential purposes. If a portion of a volunteer’s property is used for other purposes, the exemption would be prorated accordingly.”

To be eligible for a tax break each year, volunteers must live in the community they serve and have between two and five years of active service; the exact number is up to each municipality. Additionally, at local option, a lifetime exemption may be provided to volunteers with at least 20 years of service if they maintain their primary residence in the county they have served.

Leone and Barter proposed Pomfret offer the exemption at two years, and also do the lifetime exemption option for long-serving members.

Taxing jurisdictions can also allow surviving spouses of eligible volunteers to retain the exemption unless they remarry. Leone and Barter advocated that, too.

“We’re trying to put together as many pieces as we can” to recruit volunteers, Leone said. For example, the department is offering educational scholarships.

He said a long-term national trend of less volunteerism at fire departments only hit Fredonia recently.

“At one time we had 120 (members), our numbers are now right around 80. That’s happened over the last few years,” he said.

When Leone entered the Fredonia Fire Department in 1980, there was a year-long waiting list to join. The waiting list is long gone.

“We’re in competition with a lot of different things in our community,” and trying many different things to get people interested in volunteering, he said.

The 10% tax cut actually comes through a lowered assessment, and Town Supervisor Dan Pacos said he wanted more information on the option from the town assessor.

“What it does is shift part of our tax levy to other residents,” he said.

Other board members, particularly Deputy Town Supervisor Ann Eckman, peppered Leone and Barter with questions. Eckman wanted to know what a 75-year-old volunteer would do to be considered an active member.

“There’s jobs other than dragging a hose, being an EMT… to keep the facility running,” Leone noted. He said the department’s financial administrator is in his 80s.

“While the number (of people getting the 10% cut) might be miniscule, we have to think about other taxpayers,” Eckman said soon after.

Board member John Sedota, worried that people would join up for a tax break and then contribute nothing, asked if the department has minimum criteria for active status. Leone affirmed that it does.

The town board made no decision on granting the exemptions. Members want more information on the percentage of town residents that would be affected.