EA Board Proposes Tax Break for VFD Members

Residents pack meeting; proposal would give $3K cut for volunteers

By T.J. Martin
The Tube City Almanac
January 23, 2024
Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News

East Allegheny School Board is considering a measure to give a $3,000 annual property tax break to qualifying members of volunteer fire departments.

The measure, proposed by School Director Merle Pusey, is designed to help encourage residents of the district to join their local fire departments, which have struggled for years with declining numbers of volunteers.

At last week’s school board meeting, there was a standing room only crowd, and most of the members of the audience were there to see if the measure would pass.

The school district is served by five volunteer fire departments — Crestas, Fire Department of North Versailles, West Wilmerding, Wilmerding and United, which serves East McKeesport and Wall.

Pusey, who also serves as assistant fire chief of the West Wilmerding Volunteer Fire Department, proposed granting a real estate tax break of up to $3,000 per year to homeowners in the district who are members of a volunteer fire department.

To qualify for the tax break, residents must meet at least three of five requirements: they must respond to a minimum percentage of the station’s fire calls; they must have at least 16 logged hours of training; they must participate in the the department’s fundraising efforts; they must engage in equipment and building maintenance; and they can perform secretarial or bookkeeping duties.

Pusey said the last three rules are designed to aid department members who are not able to “ride the truck” in responding to firefighting calls but who still contribute.

Members will also have to have served in their department for at least one year, and the tax break would only apply to a member’s primary residence.

Under Act 91 of 2020, state law allows for such a tax exemption.

Pusey said each fire chief in the school district will have to send a annual notarized report for their members who have met the requirements to the school district and that report can be audited by either the state attorney general or state fire commissioner.

Pusey said that paperwork won’t be a challenge because fire stations already create a daily activity log for insurance purposes.

As to those who ask if the tax break would create a flood of applicants to their local volunteer fire departments, Pusey said each station might get three to five applicants if the measure is approved and he would be “delighted” with five.

He said fewer than 20 current members of the district’s fire departments would qualify for the exemption.

School Board President John Savinda said, “we are $5 million in the hole” and asked where the money would come from to make up for the money lost under the proposal.

Pusey said the money could be made up from increased revenues coming from several recent and pending commercial and residential developments within the district.

Some of the at least 50 citizens attending the meeting wore jackets or hats indicating which volunteer fire department they were a member of. During the citizens comments portion of the meeting, the first two commenters echoed Savinda’s concern about the cost of the proposal, but double that number who addressed the board said they felt the cost was worth it to ensure the survival of the volunteer fire departments.

With Pusey abstaining and with the board currently one member short of its normal compliment of nine members, the board voted 6-1, with Savinda opposed, to forward the measure to a required 30-day notification process. The board can vote whether to approve the proposal at its next meeting.

After the meeting, Savinda said his vote was not against firefighters but about the cost of the proposal.

“$60,000 could be a teacher, it could be a book,” he said, using the figure of the $3,000 tax forgiveness cap and the approximately 20 firefighters Pusey said were eligible.

T.J. Martin is a freelance writer from Trafford whose work has also appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Irwin Standard Observer.

Originally published January 23, 2024.

In other news:
"Three Hurt in Car-Amb…" || "Two Face Trial in Fat…"