Erie County, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Erie County Legislature Thursday passed a resolution that seeks to help increase recruitment and retention for local volunteer fire departments and ambulatory services.
Bipartisan legislation was approved unanimously by county lawmakers which provides a 10% property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers who have served a minimum of two years.
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"Volunteerism is down across America everywhere and that includes our volunteer fire companies," said Legislator Chris Greene. "The result right now is that we have less firefighters doing the same number of calls. It's more exhausting on them. And we're seeing burnout, which further exacerbates the problem. Ultimately, community safety is at stake."
"It's been a long time coming," said Legislator John Gilmour on the floor. "It's unbelievable, the cost of living, compounded over the years. And yet nothing has been done until now. It's going to help. I do look forward to the future for additional ways to help those that volunteer."
The move comes following an amendment made last month to the NYS Real Property Tax Law by state lawmakers giving the counties the option to opt-in to exempting our volunteer first responders.
Springville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Marc Gentner agrees that there is a serious firefighter shortage happening locally.
"It's dropped a lot in the last 10 years and if it doesn't get turned around, there's going to be some major problems."
Chief Gentner says that everything the volunteers do comes with a cost, whether it's time, money and missing other work. There's a lot of effort and commitment involved if you want to be certified in fighting fires.
"A lot of the people are taking time off from work to go to training. It's a cost, let alone the time. The training takes up huge amounts of time. And that's another one of the issues. The tax break is definitely a step in the right direction."
The chief says it's not uncommon for the rural volunteer fire departments to go one or two years without getting any new volunteers.
"We're actually fortunate in Springville, we have had a lot of younger guys join, but that is not the case normally. We were in very lucky this last year. You can go a year, two years without having anybody apply."
Gentner tells WBEN that the department's recruitment efforts have improved due in part to more engagement and updating their social media pages.
According to the new legislation, the tax exemption also provides a lifetime exemption benefit to anyone who achieves 20 years of service and extends the lifetime exemption benefit to spouses of deceased first responders with at least 20 years.
This tax break does come with certain requirements that some volunteers, specifically in volunteer ambulatory services, could find problematic. According to the legislation, the property receiving the benefit must be located within the jurisdiction served by the incorporated fire department or ambulance service to which the volunteer belongs.
"I would love to see the state of New York revise the law to provide that ability to live out of district and still be able to claim that tax deduction," Legislator Chris Greene told WBEN.