Board of Ed rejects fire commissioners' tax break request

The West Hempstead Board of Education recently voted down a request by the commissioners of the West Hempstead and Lakeview fire districts that their members receive patrial school-tax exemptions, which the commissioners claimed would help boost recruitment and retention.

The board heard from West Hempstead Fire Commissioner Ron Magarie at its Dec. 21 meeting about the dwindling membership of volunteer fire departments and the potential benefits of approving a 10 percent discount, which would only be applicable to members who are active for five or more years.

“It’s purely a recruitment tool, we feel,” Magarie told the board. “It’s harder and harder to get people to join.”

Magarie, who is serving his 10th year as commissioner, said West Hempstead’s fire district is one of only eight in the Town of Hempstead whose members do not receive the tax break. The Malverne school district gives the exemptions to its volunteer firefighters, including those who live in Malverne but work for the Lakeview Fire Department.

The West Hempstead Fire Department has 80 members — one-third fewer than it had a decade ago — and the Lakeview Fire Department has about 60 members, 10 percent of whom are Malverne residents.

While acknowledging that times are tough, Magarie said it is important to keep up the departments’ membership and morale, and a 10 percent discount is a small price to pay: He estimated that the exemptions for both fire districts would cost the West Hempstead school district about $32,000.

Deputy Schools Superintendent Richard Cunningham told the board that the taxes would be unevenly redistributed to West Hempstead taxpayers, and that the amount would vary every year. He explained that not knowing the assessed value of each eligible member’s property prevents the district from calculating the value of the exemption.

In light of that, Cunningham told board members, “You’re voting on the concept.”

After some consideration, board members voted. Two approved the measure, three opposed it and two abstained.

Afterward, Lakeview Fire Commissioner Robert Hockenjos expressed his disappointment to the board, saying that both departments always go above and beyond their duties and are active in the community, whether attending Homecoming with an antique truck, keeping an ambulance on standby at football games or holding fire safety and prevention workshops in the elementary schools.

“We’re community-minded people, we’re active in the community, so give the guys a discount,” Hockenjos recently told the Herald. “You just can’t train and go to fires. You’ve got to give something else to keep the camaraderie going. This is something all the other districts around are giving, so why can’t West Hempstead have this?”

According to board President Pamela Lotito, West Hempstead can’t have the exemption because of poor timing. Lotito said that everyone respects and appreciates the fire service volunteers, but granting them an exemption now — when funding is scarce, state aid is unstable, revenues are low, costs are high and budgets are tight — is not feasible.

At the meeting, Lotito, who did not respond to requests for comment as of press time, reminded those in attendance that the district’s 2010-11 budget failed in May and was drastically reduced before voters approved it in June.

But according to Magarie, even in a stable economy, the board did not grant the volunteers tax exemptions. “When times were good … we were still rejected,” he said. “We felt it was time to ask again, even though times are tough.”

The rejection has deterred neither Magarie nor Hockenjos, both of whom plan to present their case again before the board in the coming months. “Hopefully they’ll see their ways different this time and pass it,” Hockenjos said. “If they can’t do it, they can’t do it, but this is just something that could be done for the volunteer fire service.”