Volunteer Departments Get a Boost

Volunteer fire departments across the country are threatened with declining membership, and lately, state and federal governments have joined the effort to entice more volunteers to join and to stay.

The lack of volunteers is a growing problem: From 1984 to 2006, the number of volunteer firefighters nationwide dropped by 8 percent, or nearly 74,000, according to the National Fire Protection Association. And during that time, the number of emergency calls to both paid and volunteer departments doubled.

“Fire departments have found they can no longer count on the children of current members following in their parents’ footsteps, nor can they count on a continuous stream of community people eager to donate their time and energy to their local volunteer fire department,” explains U.S. Fire Administrator Gregory Cade. “Adding to the problem, departments cannot rely on members staying active in the volunteer fire service for long periods of time. While many volunteer organizations will welcome even the smallest amount of time from a member, volunteer fire departments need a larger time commitment from their members.”

Cade adds: “There is no single reason for the decline in volunteers in most departments. Retention and recruitment problems can usually be traced to several underlying factors: more demands on people’s time in a hectic modern society; more stringent training requirements; population shifts from smaller towns to urban centers; changes in the nature of small town industry and farming; internal leadership problems; and a decline in the sense of civic responsibility, among other factors.”

Government Aid
Recently, the federal government and some state legislatures have been trying to bolster volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention. “State governments have taken proactive steps to provide for volunteers,” Chief Cade notes. “This has happened in various ways, from providing length-of-service award programs, to providing tax breaks on personal property taxes on vehicles volunteers drive to and from the fire station.” And the federal government is following suit. Following is an overview of recent and upcoming laws that benefit volunteer departments and individual firefighters and their departments:

The Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (VRIPA) was signed into law at the end of 2007 and applies to the 2008 income tax year. It protects the benefits that state and local governments provide to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel as recruitment and retention tools–benefits such as length-of-service awards, expense reimbursements and property tax rebates. VRIPA prohibits the federal government from taxing these benefits and makes tax-exempt the first $360 per year of any other type of benefit that a volunteer receives.

“The VRIPA is one that we’re very pleased to see passed,” says Dave Finger, director of Government Relations for the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). “Our board wants to increase the benefit to $600 a year, and extend the tax benefit, which currently runs through 2010.”

The Internal Revenue Service has posted instructions online explaining the new tax benefits and how volunteers can take advantage of them. Visit www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/article/0,,id=184221,00.html to learn more.

A second benefit comes as part of a year-end spending package: Congress passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2009, including increased funding for the FIRE and SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Act grants. The legislation includes:

  • A $5 million increase for FIRE grants;
  • A $20 million increase for SAFER grants;
  • A $1.67 million increase for the U.S. Fire Administration; and
  • The restoration of grant programs that saw dramatic cuts in the president’s proposed budget.

“Both grant programs got budget increases; we were surprised and gratified by that, which ensures an adequate level of funding for the fire service,” Finger says.

Chief Cade adds, “The SAFER Act was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained, ‘front-line’ firefighters available in their communities.”

In the Future
Other federal legislation is on the table to help ease the burden of volunteer departments; whether or when any will become law remains to be seen.

“This Congress is pretty much over for the purposes of the fire service,” Finger said in early October. But legislation that may still come through–or be resurrected in early 2009–includes:

  • A bill sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) that would help volunteer fire companies cover the rising cost of fuel: The Supporting America’s Volunteer Emergency Services (SAVES) Act of 2008 would establish a grant program to be distributed to fire companies to help fuel fire trucks. This act was introduced in Congress in July, and is currently under review in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  • The Supporting Emergency Responders Volunteer Efforts (SERVE) Act, introduced in both houses of Congress in April, would create a $1,000 federal income tax credit for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel.
  • The Volunteer Firefighter and Emergency Medical Services Personnel Job Protection Act doesn’t offer any financial breaks to volunteer firefighters, but it does offer job protection to those responding in an official capacity for a presidentially declared disaster. So a volunteer firefighter who responds to a disaster such as Hurricane Ike or a major wildfire can return home to ensured employment. The bill requires that first responders provide reasonable notice to their employers before missing work as well as regular updates during the course of their absence.

If you’re interested in tracking this legislation and other proposed bills that will impact volunteer firefighters, you can periodically check the NVFC’s News page at www.nvfc.org/page/626/News.htm for the latest actions at the federal and state levels.

Additionally, the NVFC has released a video, Retention and Recruitment in the Volunteer Fire Service, which is available at www.nvfc.org/rr.

 

Sidebar: State of the States
More and more states are trying to add incentives for their volunteer firefighters. Here are a few recent developments at the state capitol level:

New York passed a law this summer that provides the opportunity for volunteer responders to obtain low-cost health insurance. Effective January 2009, the new law will make health insurance benefits available to volunteers at a reduced cost.

This year Colorado passed a law that bars large employers from firing or disciplining employees who leave their jobs to respond to emergencies.

Nebraska lawmakers passed a law that bars employers from punishing employees who arrive to work late because they have responded to emergencies.

Pennsylvania recently passed a law that gives volunteer emergency responders a $100 income tax credit. Louisiana passed a similar measure last year. The tax credit must be earned in 2008 but can be applied for three succeeding taxable years. The form for filing for the tax credit will be available in January of 2009.

West Virginia legislators are considering a scholarship fund and a pension fund for volunteer first responders. Check with your state government to find out what incentives it may offer volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. Your department should have information, or you can check with your state’s volunteer firefighters’ association.

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