Published November 25. 2025 12:01PM<\/p>\n
Hanover Township, Northampton County residents could see a dedicated fire tax increase as the rate bumps up from 0.5 to 0.75 mills next year. The impact to each property owner depends on the assessment.<\/p>\n
The reason: To offset the township fire department\u2019s challenges of declining fundraising and rising equipment costs.<\/p>\n
The board of supervisors voted unanimously at its Nov. 11 meeting to include the fire tax increase as part of the township\u2019s proposed $10,663,910 budget for 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we look at the equipment replacement schedule, generally, if the township would replace things as they\u2019re supposed to be and we continue at the current rate of tax; by 2029, the fire tax fund for equipment will be a negative $1 million,\u201d said township manager Mark Hudson.<\/p>\n
He noted that of the $284,000 in fire tax revenue that\u2019s expected for this year, $245,000 was used to purchase an ambulance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody asks the cost of an ambulance when they\u2019re on the floor with a broken leg or having heart palpitations,\u201d said supervisors chair Susan Lawless.<\/p>\n
Hanover Township fire company president Jordan Iassc and EMS director Karen Peters appeared before the board to formally answer questions from the township about the department\u2019s request for $264,000 to fund its operations next year. This includes a plan to upgrade the fire station\u2019s EMS capabilities from basic life support to advanced life support (ALS), such as hiring paramedics.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasic life support means that we cannot have a cardiac monitor on board [an ambulance]. We aren\u2019t able to administer meds to help get your heart started and get your heart moving,\u201d Peters said, explaining that the department has historically relied on Bethlehem Township for assistance with advanced life support emergencies in Hanover.<\/p>\n
However, she said, because the township\u2019s population has grown, the arrangement has become inefficient. According to Peters, there were 491 advanced life support calls in the township in 2024, plus 349 calls \u201cthat should\u2019ve been handled as an ALS call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health insurance provider reimbursement rates are also more favorable for ALS facilities vs. basic life support, she said.<\/p>\n
Peters said that discussions with St. Luke\u2019s and Lehigh Valley Health networks about donations to offset the costs are in progress, but amounts aren\u2019t likely to be decided until April. \u201cI already know that they\u2019re both going to donate. Are they going to give us cardiac monitors? No,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Resident Marguerite Georges said that making targeted suggested donations during fire company fundraisers, such as Santa Days, might help.<\/p>\n
\u201cListening to you tonight, it compels me to donate. I think sharing that information in multiple touch points — whether it\u2019s an email blast, website [post], social media — I think it\u2019s really important for people to understand that you\u2019re up against a lot of challenges. We need to support you guys,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The supervisors also unanimously approved application for a statewide share grant of $550,935 to purchase air tanks for the fire department.<\/p>\n
Outside of the proposed fire tax increase, the 2026 general fund budget will hold steady on the current tax rates for real estate, earned income, local services, and mercantile taxes.<\/p>\n
Press photo by Brian BingamanHanover Township Fire Company EMS director Karen Peters speaks to the public about challenges facing the department during the Nov. 11 supervisors meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published November 25. 2025 12:01PM Hanover Township, Northampton County residents could see a dedicated fire tax increase as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-44355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}