Nassau County’s three town supervisors gathered place at the Brian Moore Athletic Center in Plainedge Park, along with local officials and law enforcement families to highlight a new property tax exemption for surviving spouses of police officers killed in the line of duty.
The announcement with Hempstead’s John Ferretti, Oyster Bay’s Joseph Saladino and North Hempstead’s Jen DeSena took place on March 11; one day after the Oyster Bay Town Board unanimously approved the exemption.
Brian Moore, a Plainedge High School graduate and New York City police officer was shot and killed in Queens in 2015. His father, Ray Moore, attended the news conference.
The measure allows surviving spouses to receive a 50 percent exemption on the town portion of property taxes for their primary residence. The program was authorized by legislation approved by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in late 2025.
“Here in Nassau County, we back the blue,” Ferretti said, adding “we have never taken for granted the many sacrifices made by Nassau County police officers every single day! We hope that this new legislation provides some relief and assistance to those left behind.”
The exemption applies only to the town portion of property tax bills. School districts, fire districts, villages and other municipalities must adopt their own legislation to offer similar relief.
Several Long Island towns — Babylon, Brookhaven, Hempstead, Huntington, Islip and Oyster Bay — have already enacted the exemption. The North Hempstead town board is expected to consider the measure next month.
“The men and women who put service before self, people who risked their own lives to protect our lives and sometimes just our property,” Saladino said. “No law could repay what they gave,” adding the exemption is “one of many meaningful ways that we can show their families that the sacrifice of their loved ones will always be appreciated, and that they did not die in vain.”
DeSena said the exemption recognizes the risks police officers take to protect residents.
“There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends,” she said, quoting the Gospel of John, “this is what the men and women in blue do for us. They are dedicated, they are trained, and they go out every day and put their lives between danger and we the residents they protect. Nassau County is the safest county in the country thanks to the men and women in blue.”
Nassau County Superior Officers Association Vice President Keith Jaklitsch thanked local leaders for adopting the measure.
“The families of fallen officers cannot be forgotten,” he said, adding that the exemption was something “that actually should have been done a long time ago.”
