Long Island fire district election information

Long Island's fire districts are independent public taxing agencies. Their commissioners, who collect no salaries, are responsible for drafting district budgets, determining fire protection policies and buying equipment. The districts raise operating funds mostly through property taxes.

Residents in Tuesday's elections do not vote for budgets as they do in school district elections; fire district budgets have already been adopted by the boards of commissioners.

Following a 2005 Newsday series that revealed excessive and unaccountable spending by some fire districts, state laws mandated more transparency in district operations, including having all district elections on the second Tuesday in December. A handful of barrier beach districts in Suffolk -- Ocean Bay Park, Davis Park, Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines -- are allowed to hold elections in July.

Turnout in the elections is typically low, with fire department members doing much of the voting. But districts have worked to better promote the elections in recent years, said Robert Leonard, spokesman for the Fireman's Association of the State of New York.

"These elections are important for the public to participate in," he said. "The word is out there. Whether or not people choose to participate is a matter of personal choice."

Following is district-by-district information about races, the names of candidates running and polling times for districts.

NASSAU COUNTY

HEMPSTEAD

NORTH HEMPSTEAD

OYSTER BAY

SUFFOLK COUNTY

BABYLON

BROOKHAVEN

EAST END

HUNTINGTON

HUNTINGTON/SMITHTOWN

ISLIP

ISLIP-SMITHTOWN

SMITHTOWN