WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2025 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 3420
By Delegates Jennings, Statler, and Cooper
[Introduced March 17, 2025; referred to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §7-1-3uu, relating to authorizing county commissions to establish and impose voluntary firefighter service fees on county residents and to establish a voluntary firefighter service fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
(a) The county commission of any county may, by ordinance, establish and impose a voluntary firefighter service fee on county residents for the purpose of supporting volunteer fire departments operating within the county. The imposition and collection of this fee shall be at the discretion of the county commission and may not be mandatory upon any county.
(b) All proceeds collected from the volunteer firefighter service fee shall be deposited into a Volunteer Firefighter Service Fund, which shall be established and maintained by the county commission. The fund shall be used exclusively for the benefit of volunteer firefighters who serve within the county.
(c) Disbursements from the Volunteer Firefighter Service Fund shall be made to eligible volunteer firefighters upon completion of each 10 years of service within the county’s volunteer fire departments.
(d) The county commission has sole discretion to determine the amount of funds to be contributed for each incremental 10-year period of service. The commission may establish tiered distribution schedules based on years of service, as determined by ordinance.
(e) Funds collected under this section may not be used for any purpose other than those explicitly set forth herein.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize county commissions to establish and impose voluntary firefighter service fees on county residents and establish a voluntary firefighter service fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.