Middletown Township is moving to boost financial incentives for volunteer emergency responders who respond to calls.
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The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors voted last week to increase the maximum annual stipend from $250 to $599 for qualifying volunteers. The change is slated to take effect retroactively for the 2025 program year and was budgeted in the approved spending plan.
The incentive program was originally adopted in 2018 to combat a nationwide decline in volunteerism.
The program is one of three financial benefits offered by the township. While residents who volunteer with the fire companies and ambulance squad can also qualify for full reductions in real estate and earned income taxes.
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Unlike the tax breaks, the stipend covers volunteers who live in Middletown Township and outside the township.
“This is an important program, especially for our many volunteers who are not Middletown Township residents,” said Assistant Township Manager Nick Valla.
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The assistant manager noted that many volunteers live in the four boroughs surrounded by the township—Hulmeville, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, and Penndel borough—making them ineligible for the township’s tax credit programs.
For 2025, the township’s stipend program covered 121 volunteers across four fire companies and the Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad, an increase from 112 participants the previous year. The total cost for the 2025 program was $72,479.
In a memo to supervisors, officials noted that the entire stipend program costs less than half the $150,000 average annual cost of a single full-time firefighter.
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The distribution of the most recent stipends for emergency service volunteers:
- William Penn Fire Company – $21,564
- Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company – $15,574
- Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad – $13,777
- Penndel Fire Company – $11,980
- Parkland Fire Company – $9,584
Supervisor Christian Gallardo, who is a volunteer firefighter, praised the increase.
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“Having volunteered in other states and municipalities and receiving zero for our services, this is an amazing thing to get from your township,” Gallardo said. “It should really help push what is needed, which is more volunteers.”
Township Manager Eden Ratliff said the municipality is exploring partnerships with the four neighboring boroughs to implement similar programs, but no comparable measures have been adopted by those municipalities yet.
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The boost in incentives comes as the township works to coordinate its paid daytime fire department with volunteer efforts.
A new “duty crew” program that is designed to increase staffing during off-hours when paid crews are not on duty is expected to launch in March.
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Supervisor Vice Chairperson Ryan Leighton inquired about new recruitment campaigns to promote the tax and stipend incentives.
Ratliff stated the township is still determining the best approach and whether the municipality should lead those efforts for the volunteer fire companies.
Darrel Martin, a firefighter with the Middletown Township Department of Fire and Emergency Services, reported that during recent snowstorms, career and volunteer responders worked up to 35 consecutive hours handling incidents and clearing snow to assist ambulance crews on medical calls.
