Montgomery County supervisors back exploring vehicle tax break for volunteer firefighters and approve $150,000 to cover Fire & EMS costs

Montgomery County supervisors on May 27 directed staff to develop language for a new personal-property tax classification that would let active volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel receive a vehicle tax reduction and voted to use additional ambulance transport revenue to cover this year’s Fire & EMS overtime and maintenance overages.

County staff presented the two related items during a work session. “It allows a personal property tax reduction, a new category as a volunteer fire or EMS personnel, up to $500 on a single vehicle owned by that volunteer,” said Chris Lawrence, a county staff member presenting the proposal. Lawrence told the board that the county currently waives a $27.50 vehicle license fee for active volunteers and that the proposed reduction would apply only to Montgomery County’s personal property tax, not town taxes.

The board’s direction followed questions about eligibility and fiscal impact. Lawrence said current practice requires chiefs to submit lists of eligible volunteers and that the state code authorizes counties to create a classification for vehicles owned or leased by volunteer emergency personnel. He told supervisors that 34 volunteers currently receive the $27.50 waiver, and that “if you were to assume everybody had a maximum $500 incentive, it'd be about $67,000 not received.”

Supervisors pushed staff to provide further cost estimates. One supervisor asked staff to also model a $750 reduction, which Lawrence said would total about $100,500 if every qualifying volunteer received the full amount. Supervisors emphasized the need for clear, uniform qualification rules across volunteer agencies and noted that the reduction only applies to vehicles registered in Montgomery County.

Separately, staff requested a budget amendment totaling $150,000 for Fire & EMS to cover overtime expenses, unplanned leave (including parental and a deployment), and extra maintenance on apparatus at the Elliston station. County staff said ambulance transport fee revenues are running higher than budgeted — about $330,000 to date against a $100,000 budgeted projection — and that the board could use that additional revenue to cover the requested expenses. Staff also said some hurricane-related overtime costs were submitted to FEMA for reimbursement but that any FEMA payments would not arrive in this fiscal year.

The board did not adopt a tax classification tonight; supervisors asked staff to return with a recommended classification, revenue impacts at different deduction levels, and a proposed ordinance creating the new category. The board recorded consensus to move forward with more analysis and to circulate estimated revenue impacts by email. By contrast, the $150,000 budget amendment was approved in the new-business portion of the meeting by recorded roll call (see actions).

What the board voted on tonight does not yet change tax code language or create the new classification; a formal ordinance and separate vote would be required to enact the vehicle tax reduction.

Clarifying details, including a list of qualifying criteria and the fiscal models staff will prepare, will return in a future agenda item for formal action.