Volunteers (firefighters & EMT’s) provide emergency services to Fayette County residents at no cost to the taxpayer.
When the pager sounds, these individuals leave their loved ones, their jobs, their dinner tables, their holiday celebrations and even their beds to respond.
However, responding to emergencies is just one aspect of maintaining an all volunteer fire department. Someone needs to take care of the equipment. Someone needs to handle the bookkeeping. Someone needs to find ways to generate revenue. Someone needs to maintain the station. Someone needs to plan activities, do the paperwork, train new members, and manage the operations of the organization in between emergency responses.
I believe that meaningful volunteerism should be acknowledged.
As County Commissioner, I plan to implement a 25% Fayette County real estate property tax credit for qualified active volunteer firefighters and nonprofit EMS volunteers who own their primary residence within Fayette County, as allowed under Pennsylvania Law.
In Pennsylvania there is a law that allows counties to grant real-property tax credits to active volunteers who meet certain requirements.
Pursuant to Title 35 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Section 79A13, a county can pass either an ordinance or resolution granting a real-property tax credit of up to 100% of the property-tax obligation on a volunteer’s owner occupied home.
My idea is to give a 25% credit against your Fayette County property tax bill. The reason this law was passed was for one main purpose. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania indicates that the purpose of this program is to acknowledge the contributions made by volunteers in fire and nonprofit EMS services and to encourage individuals to volunteer again or to become active volunteers once more.
This existing authority is available right now. The only thing we need from Fayette County is leadership that will utilize this authority.
Pennsylvania Law requires that.
The state statute does not allow the county to simply issue credits for all individuals who are listed on a fire company’s membership rolls.
Pennsylvania law requires that the individual be an active volunteer who meets the qualifications of the county’s volunteer service credit program and has received the neccessary certifications required by Pennsylvania law.
This distinction protects both taxpayers and the credibility of the program. Individuals should not get a tax credit merely because they were members of a fire company at one time (twenty years ago) and remain on the membership roll of the fire company without providing continued contributions.
However, “active” is not limited to only responding to emergencies. Pennsylvania law provides for the county’s service-credit program to take into account various types of service provided by volunteers including:
Pennsylvania law recognizes that many volunteer departments know that it takes more than just the people driving the trucks to sustain a fire company.
I don’t think county politicians are supposed to just sit in the courthouse pretending to know how all these different volunteer fire companies operate.
Pennsylvania law has a much better way of doing things. In order to create a county-wide volunteer service credit program, the county needs to consult with the fire chief/EMS chief/supervisor.
Once the county creates the volunteer service credit program based on the fire chief’s/EMS chief’s/supervisor’s input, the fire company/EMS unit keeps track of each person’s service credits.
The chief/another fire company/EMS unit officer then certifies if a person met the active service requirements before sending his/her application to the county for final review.
This is exactly how I would like Fayette County’s program to be structured. The county will develop clear, objective criteria that are fair. However, each fire company/EMS unit will have a significant role in determining/documenting what constitutes “meaningful” active service within its organization.
I don’t wish for Fayette County to develop a process through which the only means to qualify is to respond to emergency calls.
This would disregard what the Pennsylvania State Law states and how volunteer departments function.
I would like to see the service credit program developed by our Chiefs to provide several options to receive “active” status. As an example:
Each option would require significant documentation of participation. No individual will receive credit solely based upon being listed on a roster.
However, individuals who are performing the work should not be discounted simply because their contribution occurs behind the scene.
Pennsylvania Law requires all departments to keep a record of all activity which qualifies for active status.
The applicant for certification will apply for certification. Both the Fire Chief and an officer of the company will attest that the applicant meets the requirements for a volunteer in active status.
This creates accountability at the local level.
I am confident that our Chiefs and Departments will work together to create fair and consistent guidelines for establishing reasonable expectations regarding volunteerism and for maintaining accurate records.
Volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel save Fayette County taxpayers a huge amount of money by providing emergency services at no cost to the county. In my opinion, I think we need to give these individuals a reason to remain in their roles.
My proposal would provide eligible active volunteer firefighters and nonprofit EMS personnel with a 25 percent credit toward the Fayette County portion of the property taxes on their primary residence. This is not about giving someone an unfair advantage. It’s about protecting a volunteer system which would cost a great deal to replace. If volunteer departments lose enough members, communities may eventually have to rely entirely upon full-time paid fire protection.
When this happens, taxpayers will likely incur significantly higher expenses for salaries, benefits, overtime, personnel, training, administration, equipment and 24-hour coverage. In comparison to this possible expense, a 25 percent county property-tax credit represents a relatively small investment in recruiting new volunteers and retaining current ones.
The actual annual expense will vary depending upon how many volunteers participate in the program and the amount of county property tax each participant pays on his/her home. Prior to implementing the program,
I will demand the county determine the exact expenses associated with the program based upon verified lists of active volunteers and actual county tax records.
I also do not believe it would be fair to increase everyone else’s taxes to fund the program.
Based upon discussions I’ve had with local businesses, I believe there are currently some contracts held by the county which could be rebid competitively. If a contract is rebid competitively, the resulting savings can be used to offset the costs of supporting the men and women who protect our communities.
Therefore, I believe that contract should be opened to true competition among all qualified local businesses. Saving money via smarter contracting and utilizing those savings to support the men and women who protect our communities is precisely the type of budgeting action county government should be taking.