An applause went up from the audience gathered at village hall last Wednesday after Mineola Mayor John P. Colbert and the village board voted unanimously to grant members of the Mineola Fire Department a 10 percent discount off their village property taxes. Now, however, firefighters have to get moving with the application process since it must be filed by Jan. 1.

Municipalities such as Mineola received empowerment from New York State in order to offer the 10 percent tax exemption off the assessed valuation of homes of firefighters. The Village of Mineola figures the average home will receive a $75 discount off the village property tax.

There are certain restrictions with respect to the law. The exemption only applies to firefighters who reside within the Village of Mineola and have at least five years of active service. Also, the home the firefighter is receiving the tax exemption for must be his or her primary residence. In addition, if the property is not exclusively used for residential purposes, the tax exemption would only apply to the part of the home that does. For fire department members who have served 20 years, the exemption will apply for life. If such a firefighter were to die, the exemption would be passed along to his or her spouse.

The Mineola Fire Department must certify each member of the fire department who is eligible to receive the exemption. Each firefighter must file the application by Jan. 1 for the exemption for next fiscal year. The village will send a letter to each firefighter, notifying him or her of the eligibility requirements for the tax exemption as well as an application that must be filed with the village assessor.

Mayor Colbert and the village board - Deputy Mayor Lou Santosus, trustee Elizabeth Conlon, trustee Linda Fairgrieve and trustee Jack Martins - all expressed support for the state law regarding a municipality's authority to offer the exemption. "It's so little for so much," said Mayor Colbert.

Appropriately, Santosus, who is a former chief of the Mineola Fire Department, made the motion to adopt the tax exemption. The motion was seconded by Conlon.

The law will help the Mineola fire department in its recruitment and retention goals by rewarding the firefighters who put in time to serve their community, Santosus said.

Trustees Conlon, Fairgrieve and Martins publicly thanked the members of the fire department for their service and said the law is a way to say thank you for the numerous hours volunteer firefighters put in.

The maximum benefit for a firefighter under the law is $90 a year and the village estimates that $6,000 to $7,000 will come of the village's tax roll as a result of the law. However, that money would be reimbursed through the village's contingency fund.

Mayor Colbert as well as resident Sal Cataldo believe that more should be done for the firefighters. "What we have here is a start," said the mayor, adding that the village is offering what it is allowed by the state.

There was one question regarding the law that must be investigated by the village. While a spouse of a 20-year member who dies is eligible for life for the exemption, there is a question as to whether the spouse of a five-year member who dies is eligible for the exemption for life. Mayor Colbert said he believes they should be and village attorney John Spellman said the way he interpreted the law, they would be. However, Mayor Colbert instructed Spellman to investigate the matter. The mayor also asked Spellman to send a letter to the state legislature asking that the exemption be made available to firefighters with one year of service instead of five.

Following the passing of the local law, the village discussed what could be done regarding a tax exemption for members of the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Mineola Auxiliary Police. The state law does apply to emergency service workers. However, as it stands, the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps is not a department of the village and therefore, the village cannot offer the exemption. If the ambulance corps was part of the fire department, members would receive the exemption. With respect to the auxiliary police, the state legislature hasn't passed a law concerning auxiliary police officers.

Mayor Colbert asked Spellman to research whether the members of the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Mineola Auxiliary Police could receive the exemption. Spellman said getting the exemption for the ambulance corps and auxiliary police could be a matter of lobbying the state legislature.

Those who believe that the members of the Mineola Auxiliary Police and Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps should receive a tax exemption could correspond with Senator Michael Balboni, Assemblyman Maureen O'Connell and Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, who represent Mineola.