West Branch Firemen's Association urges county to restore recurring budget line for training and operations

Todd Winder, president of the West Branch Firemen's Association, told the Lycoming County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 9 that the association has faced repeated funding gaps that threaten firefighter training and essential countywide training-site operations.

Winder told the commissioners that West Branch provides supplies for personal-accountability tags for every county firefighter, funds training packages through outside colleges, and pays liability and property insurance for the county’s two training sites. He said the association has been left without requested county funds for three consecutive years in the past and that the group was not included as a line item in the county’s 2025 budget.

"We have no means of income outside of the County budget," Winder said, describing West Branch as unable to levy taxes and dependent on county support, grants and donations. He asked the board to "add the West Branch Firemen's Association to the county budget as a line item and not as an outside agency so that this great disservice to the first responders of Lycoming County does not occur again in the future." (Todd Winder, West Branch Firemen's Association)

Winder reviewed the organization’s long involvement with county training, saying the association historically funded or subsidized training packages that are now run through colleges and can cost thousands of dollars per student. He said West Branch previously received periodic county support and Act 13 funds but that a recent Act 13 application to replace a public fire-safety trailer was denied. He warned that, without county support, training levels and insurance coverage for the training sites may be reduced or cease.

Commissioners acknowledged the concerns and directed Winder to coordinate directly with Maya (county director of finance), who the board identified as the county point of contact for the association’s funding request and follow-up. A commissioner said the county’s financial picture is becoming "much less cloudy" and that staff will review options, but no specific new funding was committed during the public comment period.

Winder also discussed federal grant limitations: he said the West Branch organization is not eligible for the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) because the association is not itself a recognized fire department, a limitation that he said reduces the association’s access to national grant dollars.

Why it matters: volunteer and mostly volunteer fire departments supply much of Lycoming County’s emergency response capacity. Winder argued that training, insurance and equipment funding provided through West Branch benefit all departments in the county and that losing recurring county funding would reduce training access and potentially the county’s overall emergency readiness.

What happens next: commissioners asked county finance staff to meet with Winder and West Branch leadership to review whether a return to a budget line is possible or what alternative funding mechanisms are available. No immediate appropriation or formal motion to change the budget was recorded at the meeting.

Full quote examples from the record: "West Branch Firemen's Association is tasked with providing supplies for personal accountability tags for every firefighter within the county. The West Branch Firemen's Association provides training packages through Bucks County Community College to ensure that firefighters within this county can attend the necessary training free of charge to them." — Todd Winder

"I strongly encourage this board to add the West Branch Firemen's Association to the county budget as a line item and not as an outside agency so that this great disservice to the first responders of Lycoming County does not occur again in the future." — Todd Winder

The board scheduled follow-up communication between West Branch and Maya to explore options; commissioners did not commit county funds at the Jan. 9 meeting.