While Northampton County Council races to hand out corporate welfare to Jaindl Farms, who has no need for public money. Lehigh County Comm'rs are considering a tax rebate that actually makes sense. Lehigh County Commissioner Antonio Pineda has announced a bipartisan proposal for tax relief to volunteer firefighters. These guys (and gals) save lives and most Pennsylvanians depend on these volunteers who responsd to calls day and night for just about every situation imaginable. They are unpaid, and the least we can do is lessen their tax burden.
The legislation would grant a $150 property tax credit for qualifying volunteer firefighters. To qualify, firefighters must serve with a volunteer fire department within Lehigh County and respond to at least 20% of the department’s calls. They must also reside and own property in Lehigh County.
Then bi-partisan co-sponsors are Commissioners Bob Elbich (D-At Large), Dan Hartzell (D-At Large), Ron Beitler (R-District 2), and Jeff Dutt (R-District 5). It has also received praise from Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong in his State of the County address earlier in the year. Armstrong called it “something we should do.”
Lehigh County would be the 5th of 67 counties to give volunteer firefighters a tax break. The first county to do so was Cumberland County, followed by Chester, York and Dauphin Counties.
In 1975, Pennsylvania had 360,000 volunteer firefighters. Now there are about 36,000, a 90% decrease. In the meantime, response times are going up.
Northampton County Council should be the 6th to do something that actually helps people other than Jaindl or Lou Pektor.
22 comments:
Do you think Northampton County will ever become great, like Lehigh County?
NorCo is rudderless. The executive is hostile, lazy, and has no respect from the majority of council who are his own party. NorCo council is led by a semi-literate c-hound racist lame duck. The lone Republican purports to know math, but has little understanding of business that's not part of the crony capitalism that regularly comes begging for handouts. And nobody in the county ever answered for, or apologized for the administration of the single deadliest LTCF in the state, and one of the deadliest in the country. NorCo is arguably the single worst run of all 67 PA counties. No leaders.
NORCO makes me happy I live in Lehigh.
What about the elderly and disabled! Not fair to others suffering!
No knock intended against volunteer firefighters, but I actually think this is a terrible idea, particularly at the county level.
Many areas in the county already fund a paid firefighting force. It's not fair for taxpayers in those areas to also now be paying to subsidize the volunteer forces of those municipalities that don't. If anything, this should be done at the municipal level.
In addition, I question the legality and appropriateness of giving out tax breaks to certain occupations. It will only lead to political pandering by politicians wishing to curry favor with certain voting groups. Today it's volunteer firefighters, tomorrow it's teachers, police officers, and other worthy groups (it will never be proposed for bottom-feeding bloggers).
As much as we all dislike taxes, their impact should remain equally felt among all so that we realize the cost of the services we want.
7:59, Actually, you are knocking volunteerism without question. Don't say you aren't. You are knocking people who do not live in the urban core even more. It is patently absurd that you fail to see the importance of this relief given that volunteer firefighters have shrunk 90% in Pa. since 1975. We just had testimony on Thursday night that people are waiting 30 minutes in UMBT for an ambulance. One person died while waiting. How many people have to die before you do something to help people who don't live in the urban core?
As for your slur in people who do not live in Bethlehem City or Easton, the simple reality is that most of the tax dollars we spend go to programs in those cities. They both always have their hands out for grants and we fall over ourselves to provide them whatever they want while ignoring the slate belt belt, northern tier Nazareth and the townships. Tax dollars are already heavily slanted towards the cities.
The cost of bringing in a professional force would result in substantial tax hikes. on many tiny boroughs that simply would be unable to meet the burden.
It's legal. Act 172 pf 2016 specifically authorizes municipalities to offer a real estate or earned income tax credit or both to active members of volunteer fire companies and nonprofit emergency medical service agencies through a volunteer service credit program.
This is something NorCo should be doing instead of always handing out RCAPs for Artsquest or a frickin resort for the wealthy.
"What about the elderly and disabled! Not fair to others suffering!"
This program helps the elderly and disabled, who use ambulance services far more than the rest of us. I would certainly support a reduced tax for those who have limited incomes (and would include pensions for real estate tax purposes) but that would require an underlying state law so that it does not run afoul of the uniformity clause. It can be done, but requires state law. The reason I'd include pension payments is that many seniors rely solely on social security, but many others have two or three pensions and need no tax break. I'd want the tax break to go to those who need it (people with limited income) and those who deserve it (first responders). .
Actually the only paid fire departments in Northampton County are Bethlehem and Easton with Wilson Borough having a paid part time staff. All of the other municipalities are volunteers including specialty rescue companies. That’s approximately 20 departments that are strictly volunteer!!
I don't understand why we are continuing to give developers money when incentives are not needed. Would all of the development in the downtown areas not have happened without them? It's certainly not needed anymore as it could be argued that we are reaching an over development of retail space.
While volunteers are critical to areas of low population density and limited income, I question subsidizing McMansion owners in very prosperous areas like Lower Macungie Township. Residents of these types of communities should bite the bullet and fund their police, fire and emergency services out of their property taxes, just as the cities do.
If the county wants to fund volunteer fire companies, it should at least apply a population density or per capita income test to the funding mechanism.
I am well aware that Lower Mac, Upper Saucon and Lower Saucon are wealthy townships. But for every one of those municipalities, there are several Bangors and Pen Argyls where the residents are actually very low income. And there are pockets of Bethlehem, Allentown and Easton that are just as wealthy or more than the most affluent townships.
7:39 am here: I am certainly not knocking volunteer firefighters or the importance of what they do. I am simply disagreeing with the proposal.
Firefighting is a municipal function – not a county one. Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton should get NO county subsidies for their fire departments, nor should municipalities that choose not to fund their own departments.
That is not a slur on people who don't live in the urban core. They have chosen to live there just like others have chosen to live in the cities. Each has their benefits, and risks. The issue is whether county property tax dollars should be subsidizing members of volunteer fire departments.
This is exactly the same issue as those municipalities who don't have their own police forces. Should those in the cities subsidize suburban (or city) police departments also?
Your comments are actually proving why these types of tax breaks are a bad idea. Because any reasonable argument against it is automatically politically branded as a slur or somehow being against volunteer firefighters. It's not.
9:19, It actually is a slur, not just on volunteer firefighters, but on anyone who does not live in an urban core. The proof that this is a slur is that you decline to identify yourself bc you know you are insulting half the county. And yes, you are knocking volunteerism at a time when we really need volunteer firefighters. The issue you supposedly raise - whether county tax dollars should go to first responders - has already been answered by the state.
Just as Shapiro wants to give a tax credit to those who become first responders, we should be bending over backwards to help them as well.
Or you can just keep giving money to Jaindl.
Bernie O'Hare (8:03) said:
"We just had testimony on Thursday night that people are waiting 30 minutes in UMBT for an ambulance. One person died while waiting. How many people have to die before you do something to help people who don't live in the urban core?"
I thought the proposal was for volunteer firefighters. Or is that just step one and then onto all first responders?
I would bet that a $150 tax cut won't get you one additional firefighter. So it's not saving anyone's life.
If you want to ask someone how many more people have to die, go ask the elected officials in UMBT, or the residents there who choose not to fund an ambulance corps.
You’re missing the point - the county shouldn’t be subsidizing firefighters anywhere (cities or suburbs).
And we agree that Jaindl shouldn’t get anything from the county either!
If anything, municipalities should be extracting concessions FROM him!
9:47, The enabling legislation on the state level applies to ALL volunteer first responders. I do not have a copy of the local legislation. There is local funding for fire and ambulance. That is not the problem. There is a shortage of volunteers. That is the problem. There is also a federal law that exempts up to $600 in incentives paid to volunteer first responders.
It absolutely should sponsor these small tax breaks to encourage more volunteers to join. That's the point.
If they are going to do this, they should make it a meaningful amount. $150 a year isn't enough to motivate a homeowner with the typical Lehigh Valley property tax bill to become or stay a volunteer firefighter. Give them an exemption in the full amount of the county portion of their property tax bills. Even the owner of a lower value property like an older rowhouse would save considerably more than $150 if the full county property tax were made exempt for them. It is indeed difficult these days to attract and retain volunteers for many of these positions that citizens depend on.
Under the governing state law, it can be no greater than 20% of the tax liability. I'd like to see it across the board - county, school and township. Have all three taxing authorities adopt an ordinance. Then it would be much more attractive. .
The ordinance is definitely crony capitalism and a product of the uniparty system we really have under all the blather.
Or like police, maybe these municipalities have to get out of the mid 1900's and into the present. Time to hire firemen and police. Possible on regional or county wide agreements. Many of the municipal leaders have had things on the cheap for ages. Now they also have Industrial Parks an warehouses generating income. Time to stop living on the cheap and wanting everyone else to pick up the tab for your lack of professional police and fire departments. How many ladder trucks and pumpers are scattered across the numerous family run fire departments? Wasteful duplication.
ALL of those “ladder trucks and pumpers that are scattered across the numerous family run fire departments” dropped everything and went to the huge warehouse fire in West Easton the other night! Without ALL those ladder trucks and pumpers the two paid departments that were there would have never been able to get that fire under control and it would have taken part of West Easton with it including many lives! And ALL those ladder trucks and pumpers weren’t even enough that we had to call in other counties to help with the fire and any other emergencies that came in while the fire was going on for 3 days!
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