Commissioners set public hearing for volunteer response rewards program, agree to include property tax credit option

The St. Mary’s County commissioners voted Tuesday to hold a public hearing on April 22 on a proposed Active Volunteer Firefighting and Rescue Squad Response Rewards Program that would provide tiered financial rewards to qualifying volunteer firefighters and volunteer EMS providers.

Deputy County Administrator David Yingling and Emergency Services Director Jennifer Utz presented a staff-drafted ordinance and timeline after commissioners asked staff two weeks earlier to accelerate development of the program. Yingling said the concept builds on a state tax-credit program and on local examples in other counties, and that staff recommend a three‑tier system for local rewards, modeled for budgeting at $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 levels for increasing participation and leadership responsibilities.

Yingling described tier criteria modeled for budgeting purposes as: • Tier 1: LOSAP eligibility (50 LOSAP points) — baseline reward. • Tier 2: additional response threshold such as 100 calls for service or 20% of a station’s calls — higher reward. • Tier 3: 200 calls or 40% of station calls, or specified leadership positions — top reward.

The draft ordinance proposes either a property-tax credit (for volunteers who own qualifying property) or a cash stipend (for volunteers who do not own property). County staff advised commissioners that an initial implementation path could use FY2024 LOSAP data to populate the first-year eligibility roster, but commissioners discussed timing and administration: property-tax credits require coordination with the treasurer’s office and timely data delivery, while stipends would be paid from fund balance if chosen.

County counsel and emergency-services staff also noted legal limits: the county cannot pay volunteers wages for services, but may reimburse expense-type or stipend payments for volunteer activity. The board signaled majority support during the meeting for including a property-tax credit option for FY2026 (special rules), and authorized staff to schedule the public hearing for April 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Leonardtown High School. Staff said they will solicit public input at the hearing and return with final ordinance language and any technical revisions for a May 6 final decision tied to the FY2026 budget process.

Deputy Yingling and Director Utz said the program would require applicants to certify participation and to make an election (stipend or tax credit) by a deadline to support treasurer and finance office processing. Emergency services staff also said chief officers and department presidents were working quickly to compile participation data for the application process.