Huntington Town Passes Resolution On Nonprofit Home Insurance Law

Huntington, NY — On Tuesday the Town of Huntington unanimously passed a resolution in support of making certain charitable organizations exempt from onerous insurance requirements for donated home improvement work. The Town's approval of the measure was followed today by a similar one in the Town of Babylon. Mike Souto, President of the nonprofit Long Island Homebuilders Care, Inc., told Patch that Angie Carpenter has pledged to follow suit in Islip, and that this measure will help his organization, the charitable arm of the Long Island Builder's Institute, be able to take on charitable projects across Long Island.

The resolution is in favor of repealing a New York State law that currently does not exempt this type of charity from carrying the same insurance as for-profit entities, even if the charity has no payroll and is donating all materials and labor. Babylon Town Supervisor Richard Schaffer has offered to accompany representatives from Long Island Homebuilders Care, Inc. to Albany to lobby for the law's repeal, according to Souto.

"For example, recently we wanted to help a Gold Star widow with a $6,000 chimney repair," Souto said, "but the insurance required was $12,000," making the effort impossible for the 5013c charity. The group takes on projects from applicants, such as a recent effort this past spring to help the Scoma family in Huntington Station make their home more handicapped-accessible for their 10-year-old daughter.

The attention drawn to the plight of the Scoma family and Long Island Homebuilders Care's efforts brought media and political attention to this law and spurred the town referendums. Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci was one of the elected officials at a press conference on December 12th at the Scoma residence.