[Added 10-17-2003 by L.L. No. 13-2003; amended 4-19-2024 by L.L. No. 10-2024]
Real property owned by an enrolled volunteer member of the Village of East Hampton Fire Department, or the Village Department of Emergency Medical Service (EMS), serving the Village of East Hampton shall be exempt from taxation in the amount of 10% of the assessed value of such property for Village or special district purposes, exclusive of special assessments. Such exemption shall not be granted to an enrolled volunteer member of the Village of East Hampton Fire Department or the Village EMS Department unless:
A. 
The applicant resides within the Village of East Hampton; and,
B. 
The real property is the primary residence of the applicant; and,
C. 
The real property is used exclusively for residential purposes; provided, however, that in the event any portion of the property shall not be used exclusively for the applicant's residence but is used for other purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this section; and
D. 
The applicant has been certified by the Village of East Hampton as volunteer enrolled member of the Fire Department or the Village EMS Department for at least two (2) years; and,
E. 
The exemption authorized by this section shall extend to the unremarried spouse of a volunteer member of the Fire Department or Village EMS Department killed in the line of duty who had been a volunteer member of the Fire Department or EMS Department for at least five (5) years, and who also had been receiving the exemption prior to his or her death.
A. 
Any volunteer enrolled member of the Fire Department or the EMS Department who accrues more than twenty (20) years of active service and is so certified by the Village of East Hampton shall be granted the ten-percent (10%) exemption as authorized by this article for the remainder of his or her life as long as his or her primary residence is located within the Village of East Hampton.
B. 
The exemption authorized by this section shall be extended to the unremarried spouse of a deceased volunteer member of the Fire Department or EMS Department who had been a volunteer member of the Fire Department or EMS Department for at least twenty (20) years, and who also had been receiving the exemption prior to his or her death.
A. 
Application for such exemption shall be filed with the Assessor of the Village of East Hampton on or before the taxable status date on the form prescribed by the N.Y.S. Board of Real Property Services.
B. 
The Fire Department and EMS Department shall file, with the Assessor of the Village of East Hampton, lists of their enrolled volunteer members and of the unremarried spouses of those deceased volunteer members who are eligible for the exemptions provided in this article.
C. 
Credit for a volunteer enrolled member's past service in a fire company or fire companies, fire department or fire departments, or voluntary ambulance service or voluntary ambulance services, or related membership corporation, or any combination thereof, that serve, or have served the Village, will be granted.
D. 
No volunteer firefighter or volunteer ambulance worker who, by reason of such status, is receiving any benefit under the provisions of Article 4 of the New York State Real Property Tax Law shall suffer any diminution of such benefit because of the provisions of New York State Real Property Tax Law § 466-a.
This article shall take retroactive effect to March 1, 2024.