Emergency Volunteers Would Get Tax Credit Under New Bill

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow volunteers for fire companies and other emergency medical agencies to earn tax credits for their volunteerism.

Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks) sponsored the bill, which would allow volunteers to earn local income and property tax credits. 

The bill allows a municipality to develop, by ordinance, a local earned income tax credit and/or a local property tax credit, for up to 20 percent of the volunteer’s tax liability. The bill further provides self-certification procedures that are approved by a fire chief or agency supervisor. Penalties are established for anyone fraudulently applying for the credit.

“The men and women who volunteer as firefighters and paramedics protect our property and keep our community safe all at a big savings to local taxpayers,” Santarsiero said. “This legislation would go a long way to help recruit and retain volunteers.”

Santarsiero said that over the past 20 to 30 years, many communities have seen sharp increases in fire and emergency calls while experiencing difficulty recruiting volunteers. 

“I have worked with our local fire companies to find ways to help recruit and retain volunteers and I think this measure will go a long way to doing just that,” Santarsiero said.

House Bill 142 now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The bill requires commissioners of governing fire and medical agencies to set up a service-credit program to track the certification of active volunteers as well as to track the number of calls the volunteer responds to each year and the overall time he or she spends training or raising funds for the entity.