The widows of fallen police officers killed in the line of duty in New York could get up to a 50% off on their property taxes thanks to a new law.
Gov. Hochul signed the legislation in December but cities and towns where police widows live will have to approve the rebate for it to stick.
“We can’t explain how much it means for the state to help us and just ease the burden,” said Long Island widow Stephanie Diller, 31, whose husband NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller was fatally shot in the line of duty in Queens in March 2024.
The grieving widow, who is raising the couple’s 3-year-old son Ryan, said the exemption would help “ease the burden.”
“We don’t have our spouses and that will be forever something that we will grieve and miss, but we get to see and be an active part of our children’s lives and for that we’re immensely grateful,” said Diller, of Massapequa Park. “At least I know I am.”
Guy Rivera was charged with shooting Diller during a routine traffic stop in Far Rockaway on March 25, 2024.
Diller still thinks of her husband every day.
“It feels like yesterday, to be honest with you,” Diller said. “There’s some ways that I have learned a new routine, but it never fades. It never goes away.”
The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Monica Martinez, D-Suffolk, and authorizes local governments to provide a property tax exemption of up to 50% on the primary residence of a surviving spouse of a police officer killed in the line of duty, officials said.
The measure authorizes local governments to provide a property tax exemption of up to 50% on the primary residence of a surviving spouse of a police officer killed in the line of duty.
Municipalities are required to opt in before the exemption can be applied and have the option to reduce the percentage of tax relief benefit.
The town of Smithtown approved the tax break Thursday. It’s not clear how many muinicipalities have approved the tax or how much the exemption will cost the state.
The total cost varies by municipality based on adoption, and there is no statewide cost figure available.
The measure was the second first responder survivor tax relief bill Martinez sponsored.
In 2025, Gov. Hochul signed legislation that allows municipalities to extend the property tax exemption to surviving spouses of volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers who were killed in the line of duty after serving between two and five years.
Under a prior law, only spouses of volunteers with at least five service were eligible for the exemption.
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