Berne introduces first-responder tax exemption

BERNE — The Berne Town Board introduced its first-responder tax-exemption law this week, offering a 10-percent property tax discount to volunteers of ambulance or fire squads who have served for at least two years. 

The law, like others passed locally since New York State authorized this exemption last year, also offers the exemption to widows of volunteers killed in the line of duty, and allows volunteers with more than 20 years of service to claim a lifetime exemption. 

A public hearing will be held on June 14 at 6:30 p.m., at the Berne Senior Center, 1360 Helderberg Trail. 

Several other local governments — like those of Albany County, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District, and the towns of Guilderland, Knox, and Westerlo — have passed near-identical laws unanimously with broad community support in recent months. 

The exemption is meant to give thanks to local volunteers, while also making it easier for volunteer organizations to attract and retain members.

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More Hilltowns News

  • The Rensselaerville Town Board recently cleared out all the red tape blocking the Kuhar Endowment Fund from being administered to local not-for-profits, but the delays and a lack of adequate publicity resulted in at least one organization not knowing it had to apply again. 

  • Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s $24.7 million budget, with a 3.3 percent tax increase, passed with 70-percent approval from voters, who also re-elected incumbents Matthew Tedeschi and Rebecca Miller to the board of education. 

  • The law will make it easier for residents to build accessory-dwelling units that are up to 1,200 square feet of living space, in what is at least partly an effort to keep senior citizens in the town. 

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