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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urging the General Assembly to establish a Volunteer Firefighter Property Tax Relief Program, under which a discount on the gross or face amount of real property taxes may be provided by Allegheny County or any other participating taxing bodies.
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WHEREAS, in 2004, approximately 3,900 private citizens lost their lives as the result of fire in the United States, making fires responsible for the death of more Americans than all natural disasters combined in that year, according to the national Fire Protection Association (NFPA); and
WHEREAS, also in 2004, the NFPA indicates that there were 17,785 civilian injuries that occurred as the result of fire, and direct property loss due to fires was estimated at $9.8 billion; and
WHEREAS, a fire department responds to a fire in the United States approximately every 20 seconds; and
WHEREAS, the NFPA notes that the United States has a severe fire problem, more so than is generally perceived, with an average of 4,023 Americans losing their lives and another 21,704 injured each year from 1995-2004 as the result of fire; and
WHEREAS, 88% of fire departments in the United States are volunteer or mostly volunteer and protect 39% of the population; and
WHEREAS, approximately seventy five percent (75%) of Allegheny County's residents are protected by volunteer fire firefighters who routinely risk their own lives in order to protect others without any compensation whatsoever; and
WHEREAS, it has proven to be increasingly difficult to attract well-qualified volunteer firefighters to continue the volunteer fire fighting service's exemplary tradition of skillfully protecting both the lives and the property of Allegheny County's residents; and
WHEREAS, other states have enacted programs under which taxing bodies are permitted to create tax abatement programs for volunteer firefighters as a means of attracting and retaining dedicated, highly-qualified candidates;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby resolves as follows:
Section 1.
Council hereby requests that the General Assembly take whatever action is necessary to enable Allegheny County to create a program that allows for the partial abatement of property taxes owed by volunteer firefighters within the County. Council further urges that the General Assembly devote all due consideration to enabling all taxing bodies within the County to create programs of this nature, should they determine that such a program would be beneficial to the health and safety of their residents.
Section 2.
Copies of this Resolution shall be transmitted to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Section 3. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
Section 4. Repealer. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.