Town of Farmington, CT Article V Property Tax Relief for Volunteer Fire Fighters

[Adopted 1-28-2003; amended 1-27-2004]

§ 176-15 Abatement granted; purpose.

The Town of Farmington hereby enacts a tax abatement for volunteer fire fighters in the Town of Farmington, on the terms and conditions provided herein. This program is enacted for the purpose of encouraging volunteerism as members of the Fire Department, assisting eligible volunteer fire fighter property owners with a portion of the costs of property taxation.

§ 176-16 Eligibility; amount of abatement.

A. A volunteer fire fighter shall attend and participate in at least 15 drills and have successfully completed training in all of the OSHA-mandated subject areas listed below:

(1) Incident command.

(2) Hazardous materials.

(3) Infectious disease control.

(4) Safety and protective equipment.

(5) Chemistry of fire and behavior.

(6) Self-contained breathing apparatus.

(7) Fire streams.

(8) Hose.

(9) Pumping fire apparatus.

(10) Ladders.

(11) Rescue.

(12) Forcible entry.

(13) Ventilation.

(14) Emergency vehicle operations.

(15) Live fire training.

B. Volunteer fire fighters who meet the above-listed training requirements and respond to:

(1) One hundred eighty (180) to two hundred forty-nine (249) calls during the year would be eligible for a tax abatement of $500.

(2) Two hundred fifty (250) or more calls during the year would be eligible for a tax abatement of $1,000.

C. For the purposes of such calculations, call totals and drill attendance shall be determined on the period of time commencing on November 1 and running through October 31 of each year.

§ 176-17 Application.

Applications for benefits under this program shall be:

A. Made on forms provided by the Tax Collector of the Town of Farmington and shall include the permanent ID # for all real estate for which taxes shall be abated. Fire fighters without real estate tax liability shall include the year, make, model, and plate number of any motor vehicle for which they have tax liability.

B. Certified by the Director of Fire and Rescue Services between January 1 and February 28 of each year and filed with the Tax Collector of the Town of Farmington at any time between February 1 and March 31 of each year in order to obtain a tax abatement for the next fiscal year.

§ 176-18 Administration of program and amendments; effective date.

A. The Tax Collector is hereby authorized to implement this program, and to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper administration of this program, with the consent and approval of the Town Manager.

B. The Tax Collector, with the approval of the Town Manager, is hereby authorized to adopt regulations modifying this program so as to conform with changes in state law as it affects this program, without returning to the Town legislative body, providing the Tax Collector may not increase, reduce or eliminate benefits as herein provided, and shall publish changes in the same manner as prescribed by law for the publication of such programs, and those changes shall become effective 30 days after such publication.

C. This amended program will be effective with the tax bill of July 1, 2005, and thereafter.

§ 176-19 Reciprocity.

The Town Manager is authorized to enter into interlocal agreements with other municipalities for the purpose of providing tax relief to volunteer fire fighters who live in one municipality but who volunteer their services in another municipality.