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