Lower Burrell firefighters could soon be eligible for $300 tax credit
Share this post:
Lower Burrell is getting closer to establishing an earned income tax credit of up to $300 for volunteer firefighters that officials hope will help the city’s two fire companies retain volunteers and attract new ones.
City Council is working to finalize legal paperwork related to the proposed tax credit, which has been in the works for well over a year.
“Over the years the volunteer firefighters have taken a hit (in getting) people to volunteer, and the tax break should entice people to become firefighters and maybe entice someone to move into the city to take advantage of the tax break,” Lower Burrell Councilman Joe Grillo said.
The current proposal is to let firefighters who live in the city forgo the city’s half of the 1% earned income tax — the other half goes to Burrell School District — up to $300. A volunteer firefighter earning $60,000 annually would be eligible for the maximum tax break. Firefighters earning less would receive less of a tax break, equal to 0.5% of their income.
“We hope the tax break attracts more new membership,” Kinloch fire Chief Ted Hereda said. “It’s nice when the community gives back to volunteer firefighters who give up time with their families for emergencies, fundraising, ongoing training, equipment maintenance and more.”
Kinloch, one of the city’s two fire companies, has seen the number of active firefighters shrink by 22% over the past five years to 35, according to Hereda.
Mark Marmo, chief of Lower Burrell No. 3, said his company has 45 to 50 members.
“Nobody joins for any benefit other than love of the job, the fact that you will get self-respect in helping the community,” Marmo said. “However, a tax break for some firefighters will help them financially, and for others it will show them they have support from the community. Hopefully, the tax break will also help retain members who are thinking of moving on.”
Lower Burrell isn’t alone in looking for ways to retain members and attract new ones.
Pennsylvania’s number of volunteer firefighters dropped from more than 300,000 in the 1970s to about 38,000 in 2018, according to the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, based in Harrisburg. There are just more than 2,000 volunteer fire companies in the state.
“It’s just one of the tools in the toolbox,” Jerry Ozog, the institute’s executive director, said of using the earned income tax credit.
Act 172 of 2016 gave municipalities the option to offer a real estate or earned income tax credit to active members of volunteer fire companies and nonprofit emergency service agencies.
Ozog estimated 50 to 60 municipalities across Pennsylvania have enacted credits since.
City Administrator Amy Rockwell said she, Councilman Joe Grillo and the heads of the Kinloch and Lower Burrell No. 3 companies need to meet to agree on the criteria for eligibility for the income tax break. Currently, both fire companies use different standards for quantifying volunteer time. One uses a point system and the other uses a percentage of calls, Rockwell said.
Only active firefighters would be eligible for the tax break.
Rockwell said the ordinance is nearly completed, and council should be able to finalize it quickly as all council members have agreed the tax break is a priority.
Rockwell said she doesn’t know how many firefighters might take advantage of or qualify for the tax break. If 40 firefighters took the tax break, that would cost the city as much as $12,000 in revenue.