Provides a tax exemption on real property owned by active auxiliary police officers in local law enforcement agencies in certain counties having a population of more than 1.38 million and less than 1.42 million, determined in accordance with the latest federal decennial census.
S10521 would add a new section to the Real Property Tax Law creating a local option property tax exemption for active auxiliary police officers in certain counties with populations between 1.38 million and 1.42 million, based on the latest federal census. If a city, town, village, school district, fire district, or county adopts the exemption after a public hearing, qualifying property would receive a 10 percent exemption of assessed value, capped at $3,000 multiplied by the local state equalization rate.
To qualify, the officer must live in the municipality served by the auxiliary police department, use the property as a primary residence, use it exclusively for residential purposes, and have at least five years of active service certification from the agency. The bill also bars an applicant from receiving this exemption if they already receive certain related benefits for volunteer firefighters or ambulance workers. The measure would take effect the following January and apply to taxable status dates on or after that date.
The bill would amend the Real Property Tax Law by creating a new local-option exemption for certain auxiliary police officers, shifting some property tax burden away from eligible owner-occupied homes in the specified counties. It would affect municipal, school district, fire district, and county tax rolls only where the local governing body affirmatively adopts the exemption, and it would require assessors to process applications under procedures set by the adopting locality. The bill would not create a statewide mandatory exemption; instead, it authorizes participating local governments to grant the benefit within the statutory limits and eligibility rules.
There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal floor or committee sentiment can be measured from debate or roll call. Based on the bill text, the measure appears supportive of volunteer public safety personnel and is framed as a targeted tax relief proposal for active auxiliary police officers. The absence of recorded opposition or amendments in the supplied context suggests the bill was at least introduced without documented controversy in the available record.
The main policy issue is the narrow geographic scope: the exemption applies only in counties with populations between 1.38 million and 1.42 million, which effectively limits the bill to a specific county or counties and may raise questions about equal treatment and local tailoring. Another point of potential contention is the fiscal impact on local governments and school districts, since the exemption reduces taxable assessed value and would be funded indirectly by other taxpayers or reduced revenue. Eligibility rules may also draw scrutiny, including the five-year active-service requirement, the primary-residence and exclusive-residential-use conditions, and the prohibition on stacking this benefit with certain firefighter or ambulance-worker tax benefits.