US EditionNew Grand Blanc Township Fire Chief Focuses on EMS Improvements
PENNSYLVANIA, JUN 19 – The bill responds to funding shortfalls faced by fire and EMS providers and builds on a 2024 law that raised tax limits for 150 municipalities, now extending authority to 1,400 more.
- Last year, state legislators passed Act 54, increasing the maximum allowable fire tax to 10 mills and the EMS tax limit to 5 mills for approximately 150 municipalities located within Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.
- The law followed concerns that EMS systems face operational strains from funding shortages, outdated reimbursement, and workforce attrition, which local agencies and experts have highlighted.
- Northampton Township in Bucks County, one of three using the higher taxing authority, deemed funding a full-time fire department critical amid the broader context of volunteer-staffed fire services statewide.
- A Spotlight PA analysis found about 7.5% of municipalities with fire taxes have reached or exceeded the cap, and nearly 90% of the state's 1,770 fire departments rely entirely on volunteers.
- The expanded taxing power aims to better support cash-strapped fire and EMS services, and a bill passed the state House would extend this to over 1,400 more municipalities statewide.
11 Articles
11 Articles
More local governments in Pa. would be able to tax more to cover fire, EMS costs under new bill
After about 150 Pennsylvania boroughs and townships were given the authority to raise higher fire and EMS taxes, a lawmaker wants to expand that power for more communities.
Higher local tax limits for fire and EMS proposed
STATE COLLEGE — Hundreds of local governments in Pennsylvania would gain expanded taxing power to fund their cash-strapped fire departments and emergency medical services under a bill advancing in the legislature. Last year, the state legislature gave some local governments the ability to levy higher property taxes to fund fire companies and EMS providers. Now, a bill that would expand that opportunity to over 1,400 more municipalities has passe…
statecollege.com
explorejeffersonpa.comMore Local Governments in Pa. Would Be Able to Tax More to Cover Fire, EMS Costs Under New Bill
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. STATE COLLEGE — Hundreds of local governments in Pennsylvania would gain expanded taxing pow…
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