Commissioners streamline volunteer tax credit program

The Bucks County Commissioners voted recently to simplify the county’s volunteer tax credit program. 

The Bucks County Active Volunteer Tax Rebate program offers up to $1,000 annually to volunteer emergency medical service (EMS) personnel and firefighters. 

The new commissioner-approved update, Ordinance 175, amends the program to help simplify both the eligibility criteria and the tax rebate delivery system.

The changes were designed to make the program more user-friendly for the county administration, as well as the firefighter and EMS volunteers, officials said. 

The ordinance removes some administrative hurdles while also standardizing internal processing. 

The amendments will allow volunteers to receive their tax rebates more quickly and easily, said the commissioners, two Democrats and one Republican.

The Active Volunteer Tax Rebate program allows the county to provide direct financial recognition to volunteers working on the front line of emergencies in Bucks County. 

The program is similar to other municipal-level incentives currently in use around the county.

County Solicitor Daniel Grieser believes these new changes will make things easier for both the volunteers and the county.

“The new ordinance amends the old ordinance by providing simpler criteria for our emergency service volunteers and application process,” Grieser explained. “It also standardizes the processing on our end at the county so that we can get these worthy volunteers their funds quicker.”

Commissioners Bob Harvie, Gene DiGirolamo, and Diane Ellis-Marseglia supported the ordinance.

The program was put in place several years ago to help Bucks County continue to work on its volunteer services’ recruitment and retention. 

Bucks County municipalities rely heavily on volunteers for fire and EMS. 

“This is something we are allowed to do by the state program we started to try and reward those people who wanted to volunteer for our fire companies to give them some kind of an abatement,” Harvie said. “It is not a perfect system, but it is something we’re trying to do to thank those members of our communities who volunteer and give them some kind of tangible thank you.”