Falls Township approved a measure of providing a tax credit of up to $500 at last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
Beginning January 2024, Falls volunteer firefighters may claim up to a $500 Earned Income Tax (EIT) credit as part of the township’s newly enacted Volunteer Service Tax Credit ordinance, said officials.
Township attorney Lauren Gallagher told the Falls Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting that she worked with Fire Marshal Rich Dippolito in crafting the ordinance and determining eligibility.
To receive the tax credit, volunteers of Falls Fire Co. No. 1, Fairless Hills Fire Department, and Levittown Fire Co. No. 1 must either respond to a minimum of 10 percent of the calls for emergency service to which the volunteer fire company responds; or accrue a minimum of 25 hours of service attained by participating in a combination of emergency response calls, formal training and drills, administrative and support services, fundraising, or other sanctioned firehouse events, said the township.
Starting in 2024, the eligibility period runs from January 1 through December 31. Volunteers who have met the minimum criteria of the Volunteer Service Credit Program can sign and apply for certification from their chief or supervisor. The application is forwarded to the Falls Township manager’s office for certification. All submissions are required to be sent to the manager’s office on or before April 1 each year, officials said.
Active certified volunteers (under the Volunteer Service Credit Program) shall be eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $500 for the Falls Township portion of the EIT, according to the township.
Act 172 of 2016 established incentives for municipal volunteers of fire companies and nonprofit
emergency medical services agencies by providing municipalities with the option to offer a real estate
or earned income tax credit to active members of volunteer fire companies and nonprofit emergency
medical service agencies through a volunteer service credit program.
Bucks County enacted a similar ordinance in October called The Active Volunteer Service Tax Rebate Program. Volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel can see up to $1,000 in county real estate tax savings each year. Volunteers may begin applying in 2025 for rebates on qualifying real estate taxes paid in 2024.
The days of municipalities relying on “free firefighter and emergency services are long gone” a high ranking first responder told Lower Bucks Source last year.
“Localities in an effort to keep up with ever decreasing volunteer rates and the professionalization of fire and emergency services are coming up with ways to delay and respond. Tax credits, consolidation. and or creating high school emergency services curricula as a volunteer feeder effort are three ways its happening in the lower end,” the source said.
Recent Comments