Workers' comp bill puzzles twp.

BY JULIE BENAMATI
The Tribune-Democrat

NORTHERN CAMBRIA January 06, 2008 10:54 pm

— Susquehanna Township supervisors have tabled a decision to pay a firefighter’s workers’ compensation bill from Hastings Borough.
But Supervisor Kevin Stanek said that, after discovering what the $1,606 invoice entailed, he and fellow supervisors are expected to approve the state-mandated payment at February’s meeting.
Resident Mike Schettini questioned the bill because the township already sets aside 1.5 mills of revenue to be split between the four departments that provide fire protection to the township.
Volunteers from Hastings, Hope, Spangler and Cherry Tree fire departments each receive $4,780 annually from the township for fire protection.
But supervisors were unsure last week whether the workers’ compensation should be paid out of that figure.
According to Barb Holtz, secretary at Hastings Borough, the bill is nothing new, and reimburses the borough – not the department – for workers’ compensation insurance costs.
Holtz said that, while the annual millage allocation is paid directly to the department, the workers’ compensation bill is paid to the borough.
The state Heart & Lung Act requires local governments to provide workers’ compensation for their volunteer firefighters through state or private insurers.
“The amount is due to the borough ... for the portion of the township that is covered by Hastings Volunteer Fire Company,” Holtz said. She said the Susquehanna figure – about 550 residents – is computed according to 2000 census figures.
Fred Nastasi, Northern Cambria Borough’s secretary and president of the Hope Volunteer Fire Company, said the borough and the township also pay for his department’s insurance.
“We bill them, and the township has always paid it,” Nastasi said.