Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Saturday that quadruples New York's personal income tax credit for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers, raising it from $200 to $800 for individual filers and from $400 to $1,600 for married couples filing jointly. The signing took place in Nassau County alongside the Village of Hempstead Fire Department, and the new credit took effect immediately.
The increase arrives as New York has lost roughly 20,000 volunteer firefighters over the past 20 years, according to the New York State Assembly. The legislation, known as A.6790-A/S.6233-A, was sponsored by Assemblymember Karen McMahon and Senator Monica Martinez and passed both chambers of the state legislature with unanimous bipartisan support in May and June. As reported by News12 New York, Hochul's signature at the Hempstead ceremony made the quadrupled credit official.
A Credit Frozen Since 2006
Before this change, New York's tax credit for volunteer emergency personnel had sat unchanged at $200 for individual filers and $400 for joint filers since it was first created in 2006, per the Firefighters Association of the State of New York. That two-decade freeze meant the credit's real value eroded steadily even as the financial and time demands placed on volunteers grew heavier.
The new law does more than raise the dollar figure. It also eliminates a prior restriction that had forced volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers to choose between claiming the state tax credit or a local property tax exemption, according to the state Assembly's account of the bill. Volunteers can now claim both benefits simultaneously, a change that effectively stacks state and local relief for the same service.
Local Exemptions Already on the Books
That stacking matters because many municipalities already have a separate property tax tool in place. Under Real Property Tax Law § 466-a, enacted in December 2022, local municipalities and school districts across the state may opt in to offer active volunteer first responders a property tax exemption of up to 10% on their primary residence, according to information published by the Firefighters Association of the State of New York. Whichever local governments have adopted that exemption, their volunteers can now pair it with the newly expanded state income tax credit rather than being forced to pick one.
Membership Drops, Call Volumes Rise
The financial sweetener responds to a staffing crisis documented in FASNY's own survey data, which found that 76% of volunteer fire departments statewide reported membership declines in recent years even as overall call volumes kept climbing. That mismatch between shrinking rosters and rising demand has strained departments responsible for protecting a huge share of the state's population.
Roughly 9 million New York residents, about half the state's total population, rely on volunteer fire departments for emergency protection. The economic stakes are significant too: replacing volunteer firefighters with paid staff is estimated to cost $3.8 billion in salary and benefits, or $4.7 billion annually when operating costs and debt service are included.
Part of a Broader State Push
The tax credit expansion also fulfills policy recommendations issued in December 2022 by the Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment and Retention Task Force, which the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services convened, the Senate noted in its own account of the bill. It follows other recent state efforts to ease the burden on volunteers, including state stipends, as reported by Newsday.
Together, the tax credit increase, the dual-benefit eligibility change, and the existing training stipend program represent a multi-pronged state strategy to reverse a two-decade slide in volunteer ranks. Whether the combined incentives move the needle on recruitment and retention in the state's suburban and rural fire districts remains to be seen in the years ahead.
