The spouses of fallen police heroes in three Long Island towns will receive hefty property-tax breaks thanks to newly passed legislation.
One of the towns also extended the break to the spouses of firefighters and ambulance workers killed in the line of duty, as well as to cover active-duty service members in a combat zone.
Brookhaven, Islip and Huntington voted last week to adopt the property break for the spouses of cops who died in the line of duty. The move is covered by a recently passed state law giving towns, school districts and other tax-generating entities the ability to discount such residents’ property taxes by 50%.
Huntington went a step further and broadened the break to cover its affected widowed spouses of firefighters and ambulance workers, and also those residents on current active military duty.
The tax cut will apply to the towns’ property-tax portion of the widowed spouses’ bill and only cover primary residences. The residents will still have to pay any other municipality, school district and fire department taxes, barring a similar vote by those groups.
“On behalf of myself and all the survivors … we thank you. We really thank you,” Michelle Holfester told the Brookhaven Town Board before the vote.
Her husband, William Holfester, an NYPD detective, died from a 9/11-related illness in 2008.
The tax break was also praised by Islip Councilman Michael McElwee, whose town board voted 5-0 in approving the legislation.
“We have to stand behind [law enforcement],” McElwee told Newsday.
“They make the sacrifice for all of our safety,” he said of fallen cops. “I think it’s super important that we recognize and do what we can for the families who unfortunately lost people making that sacrifice, protecting us.”
The three towns joined fellow Suffolk County municipalities Riverhead, Smithtown and Babylon in approving the tax breaks.
Nassau County and the town of Oyster Bay continue to weigh the vote, Newsday previously reported.
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