By Dr. Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul

Originally Published in The Coaster

Visiting Fulfill recently to celebrate the foodbank getting five new delivery vans was a vivid reminder of how volunteers impact the lives of so many Legislative District 11 residents.

Traveling LD11 during the past year, we really enjoyed talking and listening to residents and people’s top concerns. One of the concerns we heard repeatedly was the need to support our volunteer first responders. 

That’s why we introduced a package of legislation this week to provide better incentives for recruiting and retaining volunteer first responders. Our legislation, introduced in the Senate by our LD11 partner, Senator Vin Gopal, who has served as a volunteer EMT, comprises three bills that would provide tuition credit, partial property tax exemption, and gross income tax credit to qualifying volunteer first responders.

Traditionally, local first aid squads and fire departments have been staffed by resident volunteers. Driven by their sense of service and a desire to help others, volunteers have made this model affordable and made it work well, providing emergency responses that save lives every day. 

But over the years, a number of factors have challenged our local first responders and the volunteer model. One is a rise in mandated training to meet higher standards and address more complicated emergencies. Firefighter recruits, for example, must complete more than 200 hours of training to become certified for interior structural firefighting, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.  Increasing population growth throughout the district has generated more calls and increased demand on volunteers’ time. Hazardous materials incidents and electric vehicle fires have made their jobs more dangerous. 

The trends in New Jersey aren’t new nor unique to the Garden State. Sixty-five percent of firefighters nationally are volunteers, and their ranks have fallen from almost 897,750 in 1984 to 676,900 in 2020, even as the U.S. population has grown, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

Affordability is a key concern for all New Jerseyans. If the current trends continue, municipalities will be forced to hire paid personnel or regionalize their emergency service efforts at the expense of taxpayers. We need to ensure that our first responders are able to serve our communities without the fear of not being able to afford living in their homes. Our bills will not only support our volunteer first responders, but ensure that taxpayers do not have to carry more of the cost of emergency services.

Here’s a look at what our and Senator Gopal’s legislation would accomplish.

We are proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing municipalities to provide a partial property tax exemption of up to 15 percent of assessed value for the primary residence of certain volunteer first responders.

Another of the bills in our legislative package calls for an increase in the tuition credit amount permitted under the volunteer tuition credit program.

The third bill provides a gross income tax credit to active members of volunteer emergency service organizations for use of personal motor vehicles in performance of active duty.

We look forward to working with first responders and other volunteer nonprofit organizations, as well as police departments, in Monmouth County to find ways that support the great work they do and keep the cost to taxpayers down. Creating incentives to increase volunteerism and supporting our volunteer first responders makes life more affordable, safer, and fairer for all residents.

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Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul is a member of the Assembly Commerce, Economic Development & Agriculture and the Aging & Human Services Committees. Dr. Margie Donlon is a member of the Assembly Health and the Tourism, Gaming & the Arts committees. They represent residents of Asbury Park, Allenhurst, Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Fair Haven, Freehold, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbor, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Tinton Falls, Shrewsbury, and Shrewsbury Township in the State Assembly.