Real property located in the Town of Marlborough, County of Ulster and the State of New York, owned by one or more persons, each of whom is 65 years of age or over, or real property owned by husband or wife, one of whom is 65 years or over, shall be exempt from taxation, as provided in the sliding scale enumerated in § 137-2A, of the assessed valuation thereof upon qualification.

No exemption shall be granted unless:

Application for such exemption must be made annually by the owner or all the owners of the property, on forms to be furnished by the Board of Assessors of the Town of Marlborough, and shall furnish the information and be executed in the manner prescribed in said forms. Such application shall be filed with the office of the Board of Assessors on or before the appropriate taxable status date.

Any conviction of having made any willful false statement in the application for such exemption shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $100 and shall disqualify the applicant or applicants from further exemption for a period of five years.

The purpose of this article is to increase the maximum veterans exemption allowable pursuant to § 458-a of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York.

This article shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.

The Town of Marlborough adopts the exemption for Cold War veterans pursuant to Subdivision 2(a) of § 458-b of the Real Property Tax Law, as amended by Chapter 316 of the Laws of 1992 and as amended by Chapter A 9426 of the Laws of 2007, that qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxation to the extent of either:

In addition to the exemption provided by § 137-8 of this article, where the Cold War veteran received a compensation rating from the United States Veterans' Affairs or from the United States Department of Defense because of a service-connected disability, qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxation to the extent of the product of the assessed value of such property, multiplied by 50% of the Cold War veterans' disability rating; provided, however, that such exemption shall not exceed $40,000, or the product of $40,000 multiplied by the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit, or, in the case of a special assessing unit, the latest class ratio, whichever is less. Such exemption shall be available to the properties of veterans who served during the Cold War period and apply for the exemption by the taxable status date.

Any veteran who has applied for an exemption pursuant to § 458-a or § 458-b of the Real Property Tax Law and is granted such exemption pursuant to § 458-a may not thereafter receive an exemption pursuant to this article, unless the owner sells the property receiving the exemption and uses the proceeds to purchase property in a municipality that has adopted and has in effect a local law as provided in § 458-a, Subdivision 4. In such an event, the owner may again receive the exemption pursuant to Subdivision 1 of § 458 of the Real Property Tax Law.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

In the event that any portion of such property is not used exclusively for residential purposes, but is used for other purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and only the remaining portion, used exclusively for residential purposes, shall be subject to the exemption provided by this article. Such property shall be the primary residence of the Cold War veteran or the unmarried surviving spouse of the Cold War veteran, unless the Cold War veteran or unmarried surviving spouse is absent from the property due to medical reasons or institutionalization.

The exemption provide by this article shall be granted for a period of 10 years. The commencement of such ten-year period shall be governed pursuant to this article. Where a qualified owner owns qualifying residential property on the effective date of this article, such ten-year period shall be measured from the assessment roll prepared pursuant to the first taxable status date occurring on or after the effective date of this article.

Where a qualified owner does not own qualifying residential real property on the effective date of this article, such ten-year period shall be measured from the assessment roll prepared pursuant to the first taxable status date occurring at least 60 days after the date of purchase of the qualifying residential real property; provided, however, that should the veteran apply for and be granted an exemption on the assessment roll prepared pursuant to a taxable status date occurring within 60 days after the date of purchase of the residential real property, such ten-year period shall be measured from the first assessment roll in which the exemption occurs. If, before the expiration of such ten-year period such exempt property is sold and replaced with other residential real property, such exemption may be granted pursuant to this article for the unexpired portion of the ten-year exemption period.

Application for exemption shall be made by the owner, or all the owners, of the property on a form prescribed by the State Board. The owner or owners shall file the completed form in the Assessor's office on or before the first appropriate taxable status date. The exemption shall continue in full force and effect for all appropriate subsequent tax years, and the owner or owners shall not be required to refile each year. Applicants shall be required to refile on or before the appropriate taxable status date if the percentage of disability percentage increases or decreases, or may re-file if other changes have occurred which affect the qualification for an increased or decreased amount of exemption.

Any applicant convicted of willfully making any false statement in the application for such exemption shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in the Penal Law.

The ten-year limitation imposed within Real Property Tax Law Section 458-b (2)(c)(iii) shall not apply to qualifying owners of qualifying real property for as long as they remain qualified owners.

The purpose of this article is to provide a partial exemption from taxation imposed by the Town of Marlborough upon real property situated within the Town of Marlborough owned by persons who voluntarily serve as members of an incorporated volunteer fire company or fire department serving the Town of Marlborough ( a "volunteer fire company or fire department") subject to the provisions set forth herein, pursuant to the authority granted to the Town by § 466-a of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York.

Eligible real property owned by an enrolled member of the volunteer fire company or fire department who accrues more than 20 years of active service and whose enrollment is so certified by the applicable governing authority of the volunteer fire company or fire department shall be granted the 10% exemption as authorized by this article for the remainder of the enrolled member's life, as long as such real property remains his or her primary residence in the Town of Marlborough.

Unremarried spouses of volunteer firefighters from the volunteer fire company or fire department killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to continue the partial exemption granted hereunder; provided, however, that:

Eligible real property owned by unremarried spouses of deceased volunteer firefighters of a volunteer fire company or fire department shall be entitled to continuation of the partial exemption granted hereunder; provided, however, that:

A volunteer firefighter must annually, on or before the applicable taxable status date, file an application for such property tax exemption with the Assessor responsible for preparing the assessment roll for the Town of Marlborough on a form as prescribed by the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance.