Auditor General DePasquale Announces Release of $316.5 Million in Aid for Municipal Pensions, Volunteer Firefighters Statewide
Auditor General DePasquale Announces Release of $316.5 Million in Aid for Municipal Pensions, Volunteer Firefighters Statewide
HARRISBURG (Oct. 19, 2015) — Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today said the release of $316.58 million in municipal pension and volunteer firefighter relief association funds will help emergency service efforts and the retirements of those who dedicated their career to public service.
“This money is critical to help our emergency service volunteers be prepared to protect our communities,” DePasquale said. “The money will be used to purchase life-saving equipment and provide the necessary training and insurance for thousands of volunteer firefighters and emergency service providers.
“The funding helps fire and rescue crews be able to focus on performing their dedicated, often heroic, duties.”
Across the state, 1,915 volunteer firefighter relief associations in 66 counties will receive $65.94 million. Another $250.64 million will go to 1,478 local government pension plans for police, paid firefighters, and municipal workers.
“This pension assistance is critical to help municipalities fulfill retirement obligations. It goes to the thousands of people who dedicated their lives to serving their communities,” DePasquale said.
“This pension money helps bring a measure of stability to pension funds and assists our municipal leaders with budgeting yearly pension obligations.”
The state municipal pension and volunteer firefighter relief association aid comes from a 2 percent tax on out-of-state casualty and fire insurance premiums. The Department of the Auditor General distributes the funds to municipalities for police, paid firefighter, and municipal employee pension plans. The volunteer firefighter relief association funds are allocated from municipalities to various volunteer firefighter relief associations designated to serve their communities.
The funding is not affected by the current state budget impasse because it comes from a dedicated tax fund outside of the state’s general fund budget.
The Department of the Auditor General audits 1,915 volunteer firefighter relief associations and 2,645 local government pension plans, comprised of 965 police officer plans, 82 firefighter plans and 1,598 non-uniformed municipal employee pension plans.
A report detailing the amount of state pension aid distributed to each municipality and funding for VFRAs is available online here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Attached is a county-by-county listing of municipal pension and volunteer firefighter relief association state aid for 2015.
# # #
County |
Municipal Pension |
Volunteer Firefighter's Relief Association |
Total |
Adams County |
$857,842.57 |
$664,993.95 |
$1,522,836.52 |
Allegheny County |
$37,528,700.48 |
$5,467,537.91 |
$42,996,238.39 |
Armstrong County |
$393,727.17 |
$356,782.81 |
$750,509.98 |
Beaver County |
$2,472,639.10 |
$872,636.53 |
$3,345,275.63 |
Bedford County |
$200,179.08 |
$294,726.06 |
$494,905.14 |
Berks County |
$7,695,454.33 |
$2,037,617.08 |
$9,733,071.41 |
Blair County |
$2,247,768.67 |
$469,619.22 |
$2,717,387.89 |
Bradford County |
$531,735.13 |
$364,664.00 |
$896,399.13 |
Bucks County |
$9,317,189.80 |
$5,290,664.07 |
$14,607,853.87 |
Butler County |
$2,085,889.38 |
$1,174,826.11 |
$3,260,715.49 |
Cambria County |
$1,868,014.78 |
$625,170.05 |
$2,493,184.83 |
Cameron County |
$16,754.56 |
$27,502.60 |
$44,257.16 |
Carbon County |
$758,752.07 |
$409,238.41 |
$1,167,990.48 |
Centre County |
$2,173,632.03 |
$998,770.99 |
$3,172,403.02 |
Chester County |
$6,811,356.05 |
$4,371,613.00 |
$11,182,969.05 |
Clarion County |
$196,380.46 |
$207,879.12 |
$404,259.58 |
Clearfield County |
$771,661.64 |
$417,007.75 |
$1,188,669.39 |
Clinton County |
$269,490.45 |
$214,988.13 |
$484,478.58 |
Columbia County |
$697,645.48 |
$396,715.58 |
$1,094,361.06 |
Crawford County |
$885,916.44 |
$373,546.87 |
$1,259,463.31 |
Cumberland County |
$3,469,325.73 |
$1,722,597.59 |
$5,191,923.32 |
Dauphin County |
$5,367,935.57 |
$1,541,703.34 |
$6,909,638.91 |
Delaware County |
$10,583,217.02 |
$3,639,880.47 |
$14,223,097.49 |
Elk County |
$431,138.49 |
$168,519.95 |
$599,658.44 |
Erie County |
$5,751,876.69 |
$1,059,792.22 |
$6,811,668.91 |
Fayette County |
$1,159,377.61 |
$703,847.81 |
$1,863,225.42 |
Forest County |
$24,062.86 |
$42,629.74 |
$66,692.60 |
Franklin County |
$1,874,974.90 |
$873,689.49 |
$2,748,664.39 |
Fulton County |
$0.00 |
$93,113.81 |
$93,113.81 |
Greene County |
$409,287.27 |
$240,154.76 |
$649,442.03 |
Huntingdon County |
$302,599.56 |
$262,589.38 |
$565,188.94 |
Indiana County |
$681,572.48 |
$459,914.14 |
$1,141,486.62 |
Jefferson County |
$324,785.52 |
$232,274.29 |
$557,059.81 |
Juniata County |
$7,841.66 |
$149,922.92 |
$157,764.58 |
Lackawanna County |
$4,637,080.07 |
$756,212.43 |
$5,393,292.50 |
Lancaster County |
$8,209,790.60 |
$3,166,567.62 |
$11,376,358.22 |
Lawrence County |
$1,242,844.06 |
$381,471.31 |
$1,624,315.37 |
Lebanon County |
$1,641,177.08 |
$823,275.03 |
$2,464,452.11 |
Lehigh County |
$7,329,883.92 |
$1,635,022.46 |
$8,964,906.38 |
Luzerne County |
$5,179,949.49 |
$1,412,116.93 |
$6,592,066.42 |
Lycoming County |
$1,561,387.19 |
$545,531.25 |
$2,106,918.44 |
McKean County |
$841,333.69 |
$164,747.81 |
$1,006,081.50 |
Mercer County |
$1,830,258.26 |
$527,685.06 |
$2,357,943.32 |
Mifflin County |
$465,606.02 |
$243,414.41 |
$709,020.43 |
Monroe County |
$1,665,746.90 |
$1,198,259.80 |
$2,864,006.70 |
Montgomery County |
$16,794,807.05 |
$6,960,397.37 |
$23,755,204.42 |
Montour County |
$243,091.74 |
$121,188.79 |
$364,280.53 |
Northampton County |
$7,876,462.31 |
$1,573,712.63 |
$9,450,174.94 |
Northumberland County |
$989,899.89 |
$479,040.71 |
$1,468,940.60 |
Perry County |
$127,361.17 |
$275,226.81 |
$402,587.98 |
Philadelphia County |
$62,627,691.38 |
$0.00 |
$62,627,691.38 |
Pike County |
$241,955.15 |
$486,368.34 |
$728,323.49 |
Potter County |
$147,490.92 |
$110,954.06 |
$258,444.98 |
Schuylkill County |
$1,448,013.18 |
$780,411.74 |
$2,228,424.92 |
Snyder County |
$192,935.18 |
$240,396.50 |
$433,331.68 |
Somerset County |
$635,010.38 |
$464,581.63 |
$1,099,592.01 |
Sullivan County |
$12,800.76 |
$63,437.60 |
$76,238.36 |
Susquehanna County |
$47,486.39 |
$255,074.31 |
$302,560.70 |
Tioga County |
$399,758.02 |
$254,407.24 |
$654,165.26 |
Union County |
$318,697.82 |
$265,326.61 |
$584,024.43 |
Venango County |
$1,063,716.72 |
$208,299.65 |
$1,272,016.37 |
Warren County |
$556,576.60 |
$162,270.18 |
$718,846.78 |
Washington County |
$2,575,620.80 |
$1,100,160.63 |
$3,675,781.43 |
Wayne County |
$119,770.79 |
$473,152.40 |
$592,923.19 |
Westmoreland County |
$3,728,988.95 |
$2,133,052.96 |
$5,862,041.91 |
Wyoming County |
$109,535.20 |
$178,431.21 |
$287,966.41 |
York County |
$7,609,219.88 |
$2,269,930.56 |
$9,879,150.44 |
Totals |
$250,640,672.59 |
$65,937,256.19 |
$316,577,928.78 |