Allegheny Co. Council votes to create property tax credit for volunteer firefighters, nonprofit EMS workers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Allegheny County Council is moving forward with a new program to attract and retain first responders.
Council members voted on Tuesday evening to create a property tax credit for volunteer firefighters and nonprofit EMS workers.
The new tax credit will be worth up to $500.
Many fire departments across the state have fewer volunteers than ever.
It's estimated that at one point, Pennsylvania had 300,000 volunteer firefighters.
That number is now down to around 30,000.
"We have about roughly between 100 and 125 volunteer fire departments," Council President Pat Catena said last month. "Everyone should be able to get the $500 credit."
Catena said last month that the total price tag would be between $1.5 million to $2 million a year.
"If we don't do something to try to basically keep the volunteer members that we have and try to recruit some new ones, we are not going to have anyone responding to our fire calls," he said.
Councilman Dan Grzybek is a volunteer firefighter in West Mifflin and Bethel Park. In Bethel Park during weekend calls, they may get 10 to 15 people responding. During the weekdays, it's a lot fewer people.
"There are a lot of others, especially smaller departments, that struggle to maintain the membership that is necessary so that they can respond in a timely manner," Grzybek said. "And I'm very confident that people would happily sacrifice"
