City of Arnold looking to give tax incentive to volunteer firefighters

ARNOLD, Pa. — Being a firefighter can sometimes be a dangerous job. For volunteer firefighters that sometimes-dangerous job is unpaid. That’s why the City of Arnold is looking to give a little bit of a break to its volunteer firefighters, with hopes of being able to recruit and maintain more volunteers.

Chris O’Leath isn’t new to being a volunteer firefighter. He started when he was just 14-years-old and has seen the number of volunteers continue to shrink over the past three decades.

“We can’t keep living in that past. It’s never going back there,” O’Leath told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “Those levels are never coming back.”

“That’s an existential crisis,” added Arnold Councilman George Hawdon. “We have to have volunteer firefighters. We’re not in the position to have paid firefighters.”

It’s why Hawdon said the City of Arnold is looking to give a bit of an incentive to try and recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.

Thanks to an act passed in Pennsylvania in 2016, the city can give up to a $500 tax break for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel.

A proposed ordinance would offer an earned income tax credit for volunteers who don’t own property in the city, or a real estate tax credit if they do.

“The maximum would be $500, regardless of which tax bill they choose to use,” Hawdon said.

It wouldn’t cost the city anything to extend this tax break for volunteer firefighters or EMS personnel. It’s money the state has already made available.

“It’s one more thing that we can offer,” O’Leath said. “It’s an unpaid job you’re putting your life on the line, but I think it’s something else that can be offered to assist those folks, and maybe give them a little bit of benefit to volunteer.”

Both Hawdon and O’Leath hope if it does pass, neighboring communities will follow.

“We’ve got folks that live in Arnold who don’t volunteer in Arnold. Likewise, we’ve got folks that volunteer in Arnold who don’t live in Arnold,” O’Leath said. “Hopefully the reciprocity side of that amongst other municipalities if they adopt it would help and help departments throughout the valley.”

City Council is expected to vote on this ordinance in October. If it passes, the council will have to vote to approve it again every year.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group