Bob Gordon, Adams County Council of Governments president, said he is losing sleep over fire funding in Adams County. He said it is an issue that makes him very emotional.

Gordon, a Hamiltonban Township supervisor, ran for office on a platform dedicated to not raising taxes. In the several years he has served, the township's taxes have remained unchanged. But now, Gordon said he feels differently about it.

"I feel I need to do this fire tax," Gordon told municipal officials and volunteer fire department leaders Thursday morning at the council's monthly meeting. "We can either pay today or pay later."

The proposed tax is a result of a countywide study released in April suggesting that each of Adams County's 34 municipalities levy a 0.25-mill tax on property owners to help fund the 20 volunteer fire companies that serve throughout the county. The study was based on the county continuing to rely on volunteer fire departments to provide protection.

Under state law, municipalities are responsible for providing public fire protection.

Based on information provided by the multi-municipal council, it is estimated that the cost of paid career personnel would cost residents a 4.25-mill tax. That cost, according to the council, does not include operational, equipment and workers compensation costs for paid fire and EMS services.

Debbie Shearer, president of Abbottstown Borough Council, said that since the fire tax would only be paid by homeowners, it would not be fairly implemented.


"Renters will not pay anything," Shearer said.

Abbottstown Borough has a little more than 1,000 properties owned by approximately 400 landowners, Shearer said, noting that those landowners would be burdened more so than people paying rent.

Susan Hansen, Germany Township secretary, said that imposing a fire tax would give the fire departments more money than the township receives from its real estate tax.

She said based on its millage, Germany Township gets $30,000 in real estate tax revenue. The fire tax, Hansen noted, would generate between $50,000 and $60,000.

Gordon said that municipalities could adjust their real estate tax millage to create more of a parity between what they receive and what they pay their emergency responders.

Jerry Poland, chief of the Bonneauville Fire Company, said that the average resident pays more than $100 per month for cable and Internet. The fire tax, he explained, would amount to approximately $50 a year.

"People are paying more in a month for TV and Internet than they're willing to pay for guaranteed fire services for a year," Poland said.

Like Gordon, council of governments vice president Sharon Hamm is in support of the fire tax.

"In the long run, the municipalities are ultimately saving residents a lot of money," Hamm said. "If we lose these volunteer departments, get ready because (costs) will be the rockets' red glare. We are so fortunate to have these people coming to serve us."

Hamm unveiled a nine-page document to serve as a template for how municipalities could keep track of what departments are buying with the tax money. The suggested system, which she said was developed to encumber the departments and municipalities as little as possible, would create fiscal accountability through tracking receipts provided by the departments.

"It's all a part of the audit trail," Hamm said.

Gordon said that regardless of whether a fire tax is instituted, municipalities should know how fire departments are spending money.

Dave Martin, business manager of Fairfield Fire and EMS, said that the fire tax would be separate from the firefighters relief fund, money distributed from the state's auditor general to municipalities to help defray the costs of municipal, police and fire pension plans maintained by municipalities, regional police forces and councils of government.

According to the state auditor general's website, funds are also allocated through municipalities to nearly 2,000 volunteer relief associations across the Commonwealth as part of 1984's Act 205, the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act. Revenue to support Act 205 comes from a 2-percent tax on premiums for casualty and fire insurance sold in Pennsylvania by out-of-state insurance companies.

Adams County's 34 municipalities received a total of $1.52 million in 2012 through relief funds and pensions.

Ron Harris, mayor of Carroll Valley Borough, said that municipalities not establishing a fire tax could put fire departments in a position of not being able to maintain their current levels of service.

"We don't know how that will play out," Hamm replied.; 717-637-3736, ext. 147; Twitter: @walt_walters