“Hose Company” Not Entitled to Payment of Tax Monies to Fire Department

The Third Department determined that a “hose company” was not part of the fire department and thus was not entitled to the payment of tax monies slated for the fire department:

The members of Citizens Hose are not trained to perform interior or exterior firefighting and, on the rare occasions when they are paged to assist the fire department, the few members who respond are limited to performing auxiliary services such as coiling hoses, directing traffic and  cleaning equipment. The evidence at trial established that whenever  the fire department  requires assistance in actually fighting a fire, it makes  a mutual aid call to volunteer fire companies in surrounding communities. Citizens Hose is not part of the mutual aid call system.  Krol … v Porter, 516002, 3rd Dept, 5-30-13