Volunteer firefighting organizations in Butler County will receive their annual state aid as usual but are limited in the ways the money can be spent.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Tuesday announced the annual aid to be received by all townships and boroughs in the county that will then be distributed to the volunteer firefighters relief associations at the fire departments that provide services to the municipality.

County municipalities received more than $1.1 million of the $60 million released statewide by DePasquale. Last year, the county received $1 million of $55 million statewide.

Cranberry Township will receive the highest amount in the county this year, at $232,808, followed by the Adams Area Fire District at nearly $112,000. Butler Township Volunteer Fire District came in third, at $104,404.

Cherry Valley Borough in Venango Township will receive just $379 for the Eau Claire Volunteer Fire Department. The Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department will receive $813 through Fairview Borough. West Sunbury VFD will receive $875.

According to a state Department of Revenue spokesman, the funding comes from a 2 percent state tax on fire insurance premiums on policies purchased by Pennsylvania residents from out-of-state insurance companies.

The tax comes from premiums sold by companies originally registered as Fire Insurance Companies that are headquartered outside Pennsylvania. The tax fluctuates based on premiums being charged.

Because the aid is placed into each volunteer fire department's relief association account, the ways the money can be spent are limited.

In September, DePasquale encouraged legislators in Harrisburg to expand the list of items and projects on which the funds could be spent, but no bill to that effect has been introduced.

Rick Cook, the longtime president of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Firefighters Relief Association, said Cranberry will receive about the same amount as last year.

He said the funds can be spent only on items related to safety, such as safety equipment, turnout gear, helmets and boots.

But the money also can go toward fire trucks, life insurance for members, training and fire school, radios and disability insurance.

Cook explained that relief associations can buy pagers with the money as long as they don't have a digital display.

“There are some odd restrictions on certain things, but quite a few things they do allow you to spend it on,” he said.

Cook said while he has not studied DePasquale's proposal to expand the ways the state aid can be spent, he knows there are areas where the money is needed.

“Recruiting would be a great thing to see,” he said.

Expanding the permitted expenditure list would greatly help smaller fire departments, Cook said, especially those not receiving tax revenue.

Regardless of a fire department's size, it still costs more than $2,000 for one set of bunker gear for each firefighter plus training, vehicles and other costs, he said.

“When you're paying $1 million for a fire truck, that can eat up your $30,000 (in state aid) in a hurry,” Cook said.

Reid Campbell, captain at the West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department, said in addition to West Sunbury Borough, his fire department receives aid from Clay Township and a portion from both Concord and Cherry townships' allocations.

He said when the VFRA program began more than 20 years ago, the funds were used to buy additional insurance to cover firefighters beyond workers' compensation.

Eventually, Campbell said, the larger municipalities began piling up VFRA money, so the list of items that it could be spent on was expanded.

“There was a time when you couldn't even buy fire hoses and nozzles, but they decided that was safety equipment also,” Campbell said. “They've been expanding that list of approved expenditures because large municipalities still had money to spend, and they couldn't buy everything they wanted.”

While the larger fire departments would like to see drones and recruiting added to the list of acceptable expenditures, smaller fire departments continue to spend their VFRA funds on necessities and equipment upgrades, Campbell said. “A drone is probably not on our list,” he said. “We'd rather replace that piece of hose that has a hole in it.”

Campbell believes all departments should receive $10,000, and the leftover funds should be divided among the smaller departments using the existing formula. “The big departments would still get a large share, and the little guys could finally get a little bit bigger chunk,” Campbell said.

Below are the amounts allocated to local volunteer fire departments and companies by the Pennsylvania attorney general to the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act. Funding helps defray the cost of various police, fire and nonuniformed pension plans maintained by municipalities, regional police forces and councils of government.Adams Township: $111,986.89Allegheny Township: $3,536.75Brady Township: $6,869.71Bruin Borough: $2,046.50Buffalo Township: $45,997.27Butler Township: $104,404.10Callery Borough: $2,638.98Center Township: $50,070.50Cherry Township $6,554.15Cherry Valley Borough: $379.60Chicora Borough: $4,480.18Clay Township: $13,247.52Clearfield Township: $13,866.40Clinton Township: $20,403.11Concord Township $8,308.26Connoquenessing Borough: $3,468.69Connoquenessing Township: $27,166.67Cranberry Township: $232,808.36Donegal Township: $9,833.20East Butler Borough: $3,915.87Eau Claire Borough: $1,432.12Evans City Borough: $8,983.44Fairview Borough: $813.74Fairview Township: $10,595.89Forward Township: $18,685.09Franklin Township: $15,904.99Harmony Borough: $5,365.24Harrisville Borough: $4,029.01Jackson Township: $31,778.27Jefferson Township: $30,604.88Karns City Borough: $965.12Lancaster Township: $17,889.58Marion Township: $6,450.05Mars Borough: $8,270.51Mercer Township: $5,575.33Middlesex Township: $39,254.85Muddy Creek Township: $12,925.19Oakland Township: $16,260.86Parker Township: $3,032.36Penn Township: $32,644.57Petrolia Borough: $1,061.27Portersville Borough: $1,383.90Prospect Borough: $5,912.75Saxonburg Borough: $8,450.23Seven Fields Borough: $20,333.94Slippery Rock Borough: $16,852.60Slippery Rock Township: $28,499.67Summit Township: $25,106.60Valencia Borough: $3,795.91Venango Township: $4,847.59Washington Township: $6,666.51West Liberty Borough: $1,826.47West Sunbury Borough: $875.49Winfield Township: $20,158.10Worth Township: $8,487.93Zelienople Borough: $22,273.17