Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that only 137 of the 1,254 firefighters on the Greene County tax rolls are using the emergency workers’ real property tax break approved by the Legislature in February. That low usage means taxes for everyone else will not rise as much as expected. Greene County Director of Tax Services Ray Ward that taxes are only going up $3.50. “Originally I told you that there were around 1,200 firefighters on the rolls,” Ward said. “One hundred thirty seven of them — a little over 10 percent — applied for the exemption. The impact was much lower, because I was working with the number of 1,200. I gave you the worst-case scenario of $17 to come in on an average home last year which was valued at $250,000. The impact is about $3.50. If they’re in the village, increase that by $1.50.” First responders eligible for the tax credit could have gotten $200 off their taxes. Besides Greene County, many towns, and school and fire districts, also passed the tax credits. “Of the ten of the 14 Greene County towns, five of the school districts, three of the five villages and seven of the 26 fire districts have adopted the new RPTL 466-a Volunteer Firefighters and Volunteer Ambulance Workers Exemption. With a tight time frame to get this accomplished in time for the March 1 Taxable Status Date, it was good news that our encouragement to them appears to have worked,” Ward said. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.