Norwich extends tax breaks for fire volunteers |
| Norwich extends tax breaks for fire volunteers Posted: 22 Jan 2011 11:03 PM PST Norwich became the first southeastern Connecticut municipality to enact an ordinance extending state-authorized property tax breaks to volunteer firefighters who live in the city but volunteer in adjacent towns. The concept would have to spread for it to work as intended as a recruitment and membership retention tool, said volunteer fire chiefs and municipal leaders familiar with the recent state statute amendment. The amendment allows towns to offer property tax breaks of up to $1,000 to volunteer firefighters who serve in adjacent towns, and it permits municipalities to enact "interlocal" agreements with neighboring towns to offer the breaks across their borders. The town where the firefighter lives would lose the tax money, even though the volunteer serves in the neighboring town, but supporters pointed out that all volunteer departments have mutual aid agreements and regularly cross town lines to respond to emergencies. Since 2000, Norwich has offered a property tax break of up to $1,000 to residents who volunteer for one of the five Norwich volunteer fire departments and meet activity and training requirements. About 150 firefighters have received the tax break each year, Assessor Donna Ralston said. Tuesday's council vote would extend the tax breaks to Norwich residents who volunteer at departments in Bozrah, Franklin, Sprague, Lisbon, Preston or Montville. But this would be the case only if those towns have the agreement in place to give volunteer firefighters the same break if they serve in Norwich. In a real example, the Yantic volunteer department in Norwich has two members who live in neighboring Bozrah, both within 1,000 feet of the city border, Yantic Fire Chief Frank Blanchard said. Currently, the two do not receive the property tax break because, although Norwich passed the ordinance on Tuesday, Bozrah has not yet considered legislation allowing cross-town tax breaks to volunteers. "It's a good thing, especially in the Yantic Fire Department," Blanchard said, "because our fire department is located in the far-most corner of Norwich. You can throw a stone to Franklin, and with a good arm, you can reach Bozrah." Bozrah First Selectman William Ballinger said he is "100 percent in favor" of the concept of interlocal tax breaks for volunteer firefighters. But he said all the local fire chiefs would need to agree on a unified set of criteria for receiving the benefit. Currently, each town has different requirements for the number of calls a volunteer must answer, hours of training and level of participation the volunteer must maintain to qualify for the tax breaks. Towns also offer different types of incentives. Bozrah and Norwich offer the property tax cut of up to $1,000. Montville, however, offers a range of cash stipends depending on the firefighter's level of service. A Salem town meeting on Wednesday approved a change from a $400 stipend to the tax break of up to $1,000, but only for residents who volunteer in Salem. Salem First Selectman Kevin Lyden called the new interlocal concept "interesting," but he said no one has brought it forward to his town yet. Lisbon First Selectman Thomas Sparkman and Montville Mayor Joseph Jaskiewicz said the same. Bozrah Fire Chief Thomas Main said one member of his department lives in Franklin and another lives near the Salem line, where it might make sense for him to be active Main has discussed the concept of interlocal tax breaks with Ballinger, but since no other towns had agreements, there was little Bozrah could do on its own. "Now that there is, I'm sure they will consider it," he said of Bozrah selectmen. "We're trying to regionalize, and we all help one another." Norwich Alderman William Nash, chairman of the City Council Public Safety Committee, said the Norwich volunteer chiefs brought the idea to a recent meeting and asked for council support. Nash said the agreement would give all participating towns a recruiting tool, and it would solidify the departments' relationships with one another. "We're not encouraging people to move to another town," Nash said. "That's not what this is about. This is being proactive." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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