(a) Normal operating expenses shall mean those costs, losses and expenses which are ordinarily associated with maintenance, administration and day-to-day operations of the fire department of a municipality. Such expenses shall include, but not be limited to, the ordinary wages of firefighters, administrative and other overhead costs, depreciation, the costs of litigation and the costs of employees' benefits, including insurance, disability, death or health care, whether or not such costs are incurred as the result of firefighting services rendered to property under the jurisdiction of the State of New York.

(b) Firefighting costs shall mean those reasonable expenses and losses which would not have been incurred had not the fire in question taken place. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to, salaries for specially employed personnel, costs of supplies expended, and the lesser of (1) the cost of repairing any destroyed or damaged equipment, or (2) the value of such equipment immediately preceding the fire. Firefighting costs shall not include: normal operating expenses as defined herein, overtime pay, any firefighting cost for which the municipality is reimbursed under a policy of insurance, or any costs associated with false alarms, regardless of cause. Costs, as defined herein, would normally be incurred after the first call or alarm and would normally cease upon the first of the following: return to station, report in service and ready for further operations, or commence response to another incident.

(c) Claim shall mean that amount which is equal to those firefighting costs incurred by a municipality to the extent that such costs exceed the sum of $250.

(d) Fire shall mean any instance of destructive and uncontrolled burning on property under the jurisdiction of the State of New York, including scorch burns and explosions of combustible dust or solids, flammable liquids and gases, and shall include burning of personal property as well as structures, whether publicly or privately owned.

(e) Municipality shall mean any county, city, village, town or fire district, having a fire department consisting of personnel, apparatus and equipment, which has as its purpose protecting property and maintaining the safety and welfare of the public from the dangers of fire, or, in the case of a fire protection district or that portion of a town outside a village or fire district, a fire company as defined in section 3 of the Volunteer Firemen's Benefit Law. The personnel of any such fire department may be paid employees or unpaid volunteers, or any combination thereof. A fire company of a city, village or fire district shall not be a “municipality” for the purposes of this Part.

(f) Property under the jurisdiction of the State of New York shall mean real property, and improvements thereon and appurtenances thereto, in which the State of New York holds legal fee simple title, and further, any real property conveyed or made available to the New York State Housing Finance Agency or the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York under agreements for the financing and construction of facilities for the State University of New York; provided, however, with the exception of property occupied by the State University of New York, such property shall not include leasehold interest; provided further, such property shall not include any property for which a municipality receives any payments in lieu of taxes or any other payments, including real property taxes, that are or may be used for providing fire protection to such property. Such payments shall include payments, from the State of New York or a public benefit corporation, received by a claimant municipality during such municipality's fiscal year in which the fire occurred, for the purpose of providing fire protection to such property.

(g) Secretary shall mean the Secretary of State or his designee.