LOWER MERION – Lower Merion officials are considering a plan to give qualifying firefighters and EMS personnel a 100 percent tax credit on their homes.
The program is the expansion of an existing tax credit that’s been around for a few years but was capped at 20 percent.
At the same time the township is considering the increase, they are also encouraging the other two taxing bodies, Montgomery County and the Lower Merion School District, to do the same.
In late 2017, the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners first passed an ordinance giving a 20 percent tax credit to volunteer firefighters and members of Narberth Ambulance. At that time, the state limited the tax credit to 20 percent.
Over the past year, the state has eliminated the cap and made additional changes to the enabling legislation.
“Within the past year, the state has approved legislation which basically removes that 20 percent cap,” said Eric Traub, finance director for Lower Merion. “What that legislation also does is allows school districts and county governments to provide rebates to active volunteer firefighters as well.”
Lower Merion, Montgomery County and the Lower Merion School District each have their own tax on property. The highest tax percentage by far comes from the school district.
Ernie McNeely, township manager, said now that the state’s enabling legislation allows school districts and county governments to approve their own tax credit programs the county and school district should consider it.
“We ask our volunteer firefighters to jump out of bed in the middle of the night to answer calls – to leave their work during the daytime to answer calls, and this isn’t too much to ask for in terms of giving something back to our firefighters,” McNeely said
According to Lower Merion Commissioner Scott Zelov, in 2018, 28 people qualified for the tax credit. In 2021 that qualifying jumped to 38.
“The number of volunteers who are eligible has gone up by 10, and that’s very good to see,” Zelov said.
Board President Dan Bernheim recommended the board approve the entire 100 percent tax rebate.
“We ask a lot of our volunteers, and when you take a look at what we are capable of doing to help recruit and retain volunteers, it’s a difficult thing, and we don’t have a lot of arrows in our quiver to do that, so this is an opportunity that’s out there I would encourage my colleagues to vote in order to do that and see if we can get the school district and county to follow along. I think that would be appropriate, and hopefully, we can be the lead in doing that, and from the township, economically, it’s not a big impact to the individuals it’s meaningful. So I would move we go to the top rung,” Bernheim said.
The board will have to approve an updated ordinance reflecting the 100 percent tax credit.
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