Palmyra Borough Council spent a large portion of its meeting debating how the 2026 preliminary budget should treat funding for the Palmyra Volunteer Fire Company, including a motion to temporarily reduce the borough’s apparatus contribution.

An unidentified council member (S6) told colleagues the fire company "does not actually do fundraisers" for apparatus and "relies mostly entirely on borough and the township" for money, calling the model "not sustainable" and saying it would be unfair to taxpayers if the borough kept current proposed increases. S6 moved to keep the incentive at its existing level while cutting the apparatus fund for the year; after discussion, the motion was withdrawn when staff and councilors noted the apparatus contribution is governed by a mutual agreement with North Winnedaire Township.

Other councilors and speakers emphasized why traditional fundraising is difficult. One participant (S7) said the company lacks facilities and has too few active volunteers to run meat sales or bingo consistently, and Chief Dugan and volunteers described heavy training and reporting demands that reduce time available for fundraising. A councilor who has served as a volunteer for decades recounted doing chicken barbecues and bingos in the past to raise equipment money but said modern volunteer time constraints make that model harder to sustain.

Councilors also debated downstream effects of cutting apparatus or other line items: staff explained the fire protection fund is separate from the general fund and that apparatus contributions were part of an agreement with the neighboring township. Several members warned that unilateral changes could violate inter-municipal expectations and create legal or operational complications.

Recruitment and staffing featured prominently in the discussion. Speakers agreed fewer volunteers advance from junior membership into adult service because of sports, college and employment; one councilor urged outreach to Palmyra Area High School as a potential recruitment source. Volunteers said junior members can be useful around the firehouse but are not yet trained to perform interior firefighting or vehicle extrication.

Councilors framed the debate as part of broader budget trade-offs: options discussed included pausing capital projects, delaying a seasonal hire or hiring a full-time public works employee instead of seasonal staff. The apparatus contribution motion was withdrawn so councilors could preserve procedural order and continue broader budget deliberations.

The council scheduled a kickoff meeting for a formal fire study on Dec. 15 via Teams and asked staff to circulate participation details. No binding change to the apparatus contribution was adopted at this meeting.

The council’s budget deliberations will continue with the preliminary budget now authorized for public advertisement.