EASTON, Pa. — Easton's seniors may be able to get a property tax rebate in the future thanks to the city’s shift to hybrid vehicles, city council announced Wednesday.
In an ordinance introduced by Councilman Dr. Roger Ruggles, seniors — “man on fixed income… exposed to an ever-increased cost of living” — in Easton soon may be eligible to file for a property tax rebate funded with fuel savings.
The ordinance, Bill No. 25, will need a few minor amendments before it ultimately makes its way through council, which led to the matter’s tabling during the Oct. 23 meeting.
“Ford estimates the savings to be around $3,000 per year per car. So when this totally gets built out, which may be six or so years from now, that pool may be $100,000."Easton City Councilman Dr. Roger Ruggles
According to the ordinance, Easton Police Department will add two new hybrid vehicles to their fleet for 2025, with the expectation that four more will be added annually until all police vehicles are hybrids.
Ruggles said the savings derived from the hybrid vehicles could be used to help alleviate the burden of property taxes on Easton seniors, making for an innovative approach that helps both the environment and the citizens of the city in tandem.
Financial and environmental impact
The hybrid vehicles have an estimated fuel savings of $3,200 per year per vehicle, and a reduction of 1 million pounds of carbon dioxide output.
“Ford estimates the savings to be around $3,000 per year per car," Ruggles said. "So when this totally gets built out, which may be six or so years from now, that pool may be $100,000.”
Ruggles said those savings estimates were considered “conservative,” and could be more.
Ruggles later explained that those fuel and output savings stem from the way police routinely work in the city.
“Typically, when police officers stop to fill out paperwork or whatever, what they currently do is leave the engine running, because there’s so many electronics in the car that the engine has to power it all,” Ruggles said.
“With the hybrids, the battery is big enough to power that, so they can shut the engine off. Every second that the engine’s not running, and therefore not burning gas, that’s where we get the bulk of the savings for the fuel costs.”
As for the carbon dioxide emissions, 1 million pounds of the gas equates to about the same output from 108 gas-powered vehicles driven for a whole year, or 1,160,093 miles driven by a single gas-powered vehicle, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states on its Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
It also saves around 51,040 gallons per gas, or 33,557 gallons of diesel fuel, the EPA states, and is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 7,500 seedlings grown for 10 years.
A bit of fine-tuning
The first year of the program, which would be in 2026 to cover 2025 taxes, would see a funding pool built off of the fuel savings for the first two hybrids on the police force, making up about $6,000 or so.
Ruggles said the plan is to roll out four more hybrids per year, if possible, which would see a substantial increase in the rebate pool over the coming years.
During his report, solicitor Joel Scheer noted that some fine-tuning will be needed to ensure the bill is properly worded, particularly with how the fuel savings estimates will be calculated, what the formula for the distribution of the rebates would look like, and other legal matters.
“And that’s the type of thing I’m talking about, nothing with the concept,” Scheer said. “We just have to have clearer definitions within the ordinance.”
Once the ordinance has been polished, it likely will be reintroduced at the next Easton City Council meeting, set for Nov. 6.
How it works
As the cost-of-living increases across the country, and those 65 and older are prone to struggle due to fixed incomes and inflation, Ruggles opted to direct the savings toward seniors.
The pool to finance the rebate will be calculated based on the total savings from reduced fuel costs each year.
Early on, individual rebates may be lower, depending upon the number of seniors who apply, but if the police department continues to implement more hybrids into the force at their projected rate, rebates could potentially amount to enough to pay an entire property tax bill for a resident.
That figure will be divided by the total number of qualified applicants for the rebate program to determine the amount of the rebate which each taxpayer can claim.
Only deed-holding seniors age 65 and older will be eligible for one rebate per year.
Applications for the program will be made available on Sept. 1 of each year and must be submitted to the City of Finance Department by Oct. 31 of the year prior to which the rebate will be applied.
In the end, a recipient of the rebate would get a property tax bill with the savings already applied.
And while the rebate cannot exceed the total tax liability per year, excess funds will be carried over to the following year’s pool.
Judging by the reactions of a few board members, administrators — including Scheer — and the audience, it appears this just might be one of the more popular pieces of legislation in the city this year.
