[Adopted 5-9-2023 by L.L. No. 3-2023]
An exemption of 10% of the assessed value of property owned by an enrolled member as set forth below, or such enrolled member and their spouse, is hereby granted from taxation with respect to the real property taxes of the Town of Cheektowaga as long as eligibility requirements are met.
Such exemption shall be granted to an enrolled member of an incorporated volunteer fire company or fire department and volunteer ambulance workers provided that:
A. 
The property is owned by the volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker;
B. 
The property is the primary residence of the volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker;
C. 
The property is used exclusively for residential purposes;
D. 
The volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker resides in the Town of Cheektowaga and the Town of Cheektowaga is served by such incorporated volunteer fire company or fire department and volunteer ambulance workers;
E. 
The volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker is certified by the authority having jurisdiction as an enrolled and active member of such an incorporated volunteer fire company or fire department or as a volunteer ambulance worker; and
F. 
The volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker meets the minimum service requirement established by the Town of Cheektowaga, which is hereby determined by the two preceding calendar years.
A volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker must annually, on or before the applicable taxable status date, file an application for such property tax exemption with the assessor responsible for preparing the assessment roll for the Town of Cheektowaga on a form prescribed by the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance. The Town of Cheektowaga must maintain written guidelines, available upon request, as to the requirements of an enrolled volunteer member relating to this exemption.
The incorporated fire district, fire department or volunteer ambulance service must annually file with the assessor, prior to the applicable taxable status date, a list of the active volunteer members who are certified to meet the minimum service requirement. Such list must provide, as of the taxable status date, the number of years of service served by each such enrolled member and such enrolled member's address of residence.
An applicant who is receiving any benefit pursuant to Article 4 of the Real Property Tax Law as of the effective date of this article shall not have any of those benefits diminished because of this article.
Any eligible enrolled member who accrues more than 20 years of active volunteer service, as certified by the Town of Cheektowaga, shall be granted the 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 Town of Cheektowaga.
The unremarried surviving spouse of a deceased enrolled member killed in the line of fire duty, as certified by the Town of Cheektowaga, is qualified to continue to receive an exemption, as long as the deceased volunteer had been an enrolled member for at least five years and had been receiving the exemption at the time of his or her death.
The unremarried surviving spouse of a deceased enrolled member, as certified by the Town of Cheektowaga, is qualified to continue to receive an exemption, as long as the deceased volunteer had been an enrolled member for at least 20 years and the deceased volunteer and unremarried spouse had been receiving the exemption at the time of his or her death.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article or the application thereof to any person, individual, corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstance shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional, such order or judgment shall not affect, impair, effect or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article or in its application to the person, individual, corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstance directly involved in the controversy in which such order or judgment shall be rendered.
This article shall take effect immediately upon filing in the office of the Secretary of State in accordance with Municipal Home Rule Law § 27.