State Senator Pam Helming (R-54) of Canandaigua is sponsoring a bill that would allow municipalities to give tax breaks to volunteer firefighters in an effort to attract recruits.
The bill would allow municipalities to give volunteer firefighters a 10% reduction on their property assessment, thereby lowering the amount they would have to pay in property taxes. Linda Zwick, vice president of Fayette’s Canoga Fire Department, is asking the Seneca County Board of Supervisors to back Helming’s bill.
“Our numbers are dwindling and the work is getting harder for the older firefighters to do,” said Zwick at the board’s March 8 meeting, according to Finger Lakes Times. “We’re hoping many more younger people join, and we feel this bill might help recruit more volunteer firefighters.”
The issue of supporting the bill will go in front of the board’s Public Safety Committee on March 22.
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