Article IX: Volunteer Service Earned Income Tax Credit

§ 507-104 Scope and purpose.

Scope. The scope of this article relates to Act 172 and its intended incentives for municipal volunteers of fire companies and nonprofit emergency medical services agencies.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: See 35 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 79A, Incentives for Municipal Volunteers of Fire Companies and Nonprofit Emergency Medical Services Agencies, which was added by Act of Nov. 21, 2016, P.L. 1509, No. 172, effective January 1, 2017.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to authorize the Borough to enact a tax credit against an active volunteer's tax liability as a financial incentive to:

(1)

Acknowledge the value and the absence of any public cost for volunteer fire protection and nonprofit emergency medical services provided by active volunteers; and

(2)

Encourage individuals to volunteer, or for former volunteers to consider rejoining as active volunteers, in a volunteer fire company or nonprofit emergency medical services agency.

§ 507-105 Volunteer service tax credits.

Earned income tax credit. Each qualifying volunteer, as defined and certified in accordance with the provisions of this article, shall receive one of the two forms of tax credit here but not both:

(1)

An earned income tax credit in the amount of $300 per year. The credit shall be applied to that portion of the earned income tax that is payable to Rockledge Borough and cannot exceed the qualifying volunteer's liability to the Borough for the earned income tax due on wages/net profits earned in that tax year. By resolution, the Borough Council may adjust the amount of the earned income tax credit at any time in its sole discretion; or

(2)

A credit in the amount of 25% of the Volunteer's Borough real estate tax liability owed annually on the volunteer's domicile, which must be located in the Borough. The credit will not appear on tax bills.

Limitations. The tax credits established by this article may be used against the qualifying volunteer's tax liability for the current taxable year and every taxable year the individual is qualified as a qualifying volunteer. The tax credits established by this article shall remain in effect until the Borough repeals this article.

§ 507-106 Qualifying volunteer.

Qualifying volunteer criteria. To be a "qualifying volunteer" under this article, an individual must:

(1)

Be a Borough resident;

(2)

Have served as an active volunteer, in good standing, as so certified under this article, for the entire preceding calendar year, for a volunteer fire company and/or a nonprofit emergency medical services agency; satisfy the specific criteria to be established by Borough resolution.

Injured active volunteer. An active volunteer who was injured during a response to an emergency call and can no longer serve as an active volunteer because of the injury and who would otherwise be eligible for tax credits under this article shall be eligible for such tax credits for the succeeding five tax years.

Eligibility list. A notarized list of eligible active volunteers shall be submitted to the governing body, no later than 45 days before tax notices are to be distributed, by the chiefs of the Rockledge Volunteer Fire Company or the Borough's nonprofit emergency medical services agency, as applicable.

Criteria revision. The Borough Council reserves the right to revise the criteria for a qualifying volunteer, in whole or in part, at its sole discretion.

§ 507-107 Certification of qualifying volunteers.

To receive certification as a qualifying volunteer under this article, an individual must meet the qualifying volunteer criteria set forth herein and, by January 15 of each year (following the year in which an individual has served as an active volunteer), sign and submit an application for certification as a qualifying volunteer to the Chief of the Rockledge Volunteer Fire Company.

Thereafter, the Chief of the Rockledge Volunteer Fire Company shall review all applications submitted, sign each application, and indicate on each application whether he/she recommends the volunteer to be certified as a qualifying volunteer.

By March 30 of the same year, the Chief of the Rockledge Volunteer Fire Company shall forward all applications received, with all supporting documentation, to Borough Council.

[Amended 7-31-2023 by Ord. No. 681]

Borough Council shall review the applications and supporting documentation and shall, by Board motion, certify all qualifying volunteers on or before March 1 of each year. Only those volunteers so certified by the Borough Council shall receive the earned income tax credit or the real property tax credit, and these credits may be utilized for any earned income taxes and/or real property taxes paid or payable to the Borough during or for the previous calendar year only.

§ 507-108 Appeal.

A volunteer may appeal the decision of the Borough Council to not certify him or her as a qualifying volunteer by submitting a written request for binding arbitration to the Borough Secretary within 10 days of the date of the Board's decision. The binding arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, and any costs for the arbiter and the proceeding only shall be shared equally by the parties.

§ 507-109 Exemption certificate.

Within 10 days of the Borough Council's decision certifying qualifying volunteers, the Borough Secretary shall issue a qualifying volunteer exemption certificate to each qualifying volunteer, in a form acceptable to the tax collector appointed by the Montgomery County Tax Collection Committee to collect the earned income tax and the Borough's Tax Collector elected to collect the Borough's real property tax.

§ 507-110 False reporting penalty.

Any person who knowingly makes, or conspires to make, a false application for certification as a qualifying volunteer commits a misdemeanor of the first degree punishable by a fine of $1,000.

Any person who knowingly provides, or conspires to provide, a false certification recommendation under this article commits a misdemeanor of the first degree punishable by a fine of $1,000.

§ 507-111 Repeal and ratification.

All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith or in conflict with any of the specific terms enacted hereby, to the extent of said inconsistencies or conflicts, are hereby specifically repealed. Any other terms and provisions of the Borough's Code unaffected by this article are hereby reaffirmed and ratified.

§ 507-112 Severability.

Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase in this article be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, the remainder of the article shall not be affected thereby and shall remain in full force and affect, and for this reason the provisions of this article shall be severable.

§ 507-113 Effective date.

This article shall become effective:

When approved by the Mayor;

If vetoed by the Mayor, the date of any override by Council;

If not returned by the Mayor by the date of the next regularly scheduled Council meeting that occurs at least 10 days after initial Council adoption of the ordinance, then the date of the next succeeding regularly scheduled meeting of Council.