Tax break may not be enough for recruiting

The mayor and Town Council of Berlin have the right idea as they contemplate offering property tax incentives to first responders who live in town.

Ostensibly, this idea aims to help the Berlin Fire Company recruit volunteers more than anything else, although police and career emergency services personnel could benefit as well.

Berlin’s company, like volunteer outfits in small towns across the country, is facing a crisis. It’s been written here before, but overstating the seriousness of the situation would be almost impossible to do, because the public must pay attention now before it’s forced to pay big money later.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, volunteer firefighter recruiting numbers have been declining since 2008, while the number of calls for service have increased.

 Among the reasons cited for this downturn in recruiting are the demanding training requirements, heavy time commitments, and shifting demographics. In the latter instance, this means those ties to the community that led to greater civic engagement — and volunteer service — aren’t as tight as they once were.

Further, the housing situation is almost impossible for young people just starting out. Maryland House Market Data puts the average sale price of a home in Berlin at $435,000 and the average rent around $2,500.

That’s simply beyond the reach of young would-be fire company recruits and while the $1,000 tax break proposed by town officials would help, that’s nothing as compared to what the cost to taxpayers would be if the town had to switch to an all-paid department.

A rough guess is a paid fire department would cost the town somewhere around $5 million in salary and benefits a year. That leaves the mayor and council in the position of not having to decide whether to grant the tax break discussed this week, but whether it will be enough to be effective.