School property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers expanded: Feb. 29 school board wrap-up

More volunteer emergency service workers will now be able to take advantage of lower school district taxes.

Volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers now only need two years of service, rather than five years of service, to take advantage of a 10% school property tax exemption, the Riverhead Board of Education decided Tuesday.

“This incentive here is a great help,“ said Trustee Matt Wallace, a volunteer in the Wading River Fire Department. “It’s great for retention, because a lot of people are joining in and they find that they can’t really do it. So this really helps out the ambulance workers, the firemen, the EMT’s — everybody.”

The board received one comment in support of the measure during the public hearing before passing the resolution changing the exemptions, which is under Real Property Tax Law Section 466-a. The tax percentage exempted was not changed by the school board. 

Riverhead Fire District voters recently passed a measure, also meant to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters, to increase the amount of money a volunteer would receive from a longevity program. 

During its Feb. 27 meeting, the school board also:

• Appointed a new district clerk until the end of the year. Dawn Bozuhoski will be paid $60,000 for the job, which is a non-union position. 
• Declared a bidding failure for the school district’s driver’s education program. The district delivered invitations to bid to six prospective vendors, but none responded in time, according to the resolution. Two vendors sent a statement as to why they were unable to respond to the bid notice. The district will repost the bid in the near future, trustee Matt Wallace said.
• Approved an agreement between the school district, the Town of Riverhead, and other taxing jurisdictions to collect payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) from the Long Island Power Authority for certain properties formerly owned by the Long Island Lighting Company.
• Approved a consultant agreement with John Fleming to perform services including but not limited to consulting on the district’s “Workplace Violence Prevention Program, and other services deemed necessary and/or appropriate by the Superintendent of School.” Fleming will be paid $150 per hour.
• Approved a consultant agreement with Christina Pulaski to be the “chairperson for Committee on Special Education Meetings, and other services deemed necessary and/or appropriate by the Superintendent of School.” Pulaski will be paid $100 per hour.
• Approved the district calendar for the 2024-25 school year.
• Accepted several donations including: 40 backpacks and 24 backpack supply kits from Jesus is Lord Church in Holtsville, valued at approximately $2,000; a kitchen play set from parents Ewelina and Tomasz Zebrowski, for use in the classroom, valued at approximately $200; $1,500, to be divided equally in thirds between the RHS Chamber Orchestra, RHS Chorus and RHS Band, from Main Street Productions and Riverhead Moose Lodge #1742, who state that they were honored to have them perform and look forward to another performance this year; $250 for Safe Halloween to the Riverhead High School Key Club from the Riverhead Central Faculty Association; and $2,000 from Peconic Asset Planning, Inc. to the Chamber Orchestra to pay for students who are unable to pay for trips.
• Honored Riverhead High School Varsity Cheerleaders, who placed second in the Empire Regional cheer competition in December and placed 11th at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando Florida. 
• Heard a presentation from alternative school facilitator Dena Tishim about the North Star Academy. 
• Heard a presentation from Interim Superintendent for Business Marianne Cartisano about the crafting of next year’s district budget. Cartisano said the district is approaching a “fiscal cliff” with the loss of nearly $20 million in federal funding. Read more about her presentation here.