Yachats Fire board agrees to pay — but uncertain how much — two administrators for also volunteering

By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews

YACHATS — The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District board voted Monday to potentially pay tens of thousands of dollars into retirement accounts for two employees in recognition of their years of dual volunteer service, payments they missed since 2016.

Another volunteer could receive their first, smaller contribution.

The fire board voted in 2015 to participate in a Length of Service Award Program – commonly referred by its acronym LOSAP – as a means to help recruit and retain volunteers by offering pension-like accounts for retirement. An exemption to the federal tax code for such accounts was created in 1996 by Congress, which gradually raised the maximum contribution from the original $3,000 to $7,000 as of January. States can have their own limits and requirements.

But Yachats is unusual in that Frankie Petrick is its longtime paid administrator and then also holds the title of volunteer fire chief. Shelby Knife is a paid assistant administrator and also a volunteer firefighter/emergency medical technician.

Both have been eligible for LOSAP contributions for seven years while the district only paid the first year. Knife’s account received $759 and Petrick’s was credited $1,600. Contribution amounts are based on length of time volunteering for the department. Volunteer Janae Knudson is newly eligible for a $625 contribution this year.

Petrick said she and Knife agreed to defer contributions for several years to avoid draining a very tight budget. With a substantial new tax levy to begin in July, the district is in a better position to resume those retirement payments.

The district has three options, according to a memo from Petrick for the board’s meeting Monday — take no action, contribute the full amount retroactively to 2016, or pay just the previous three years up to $6,000 a year, which the plan administrator advised was the limit for what was tax exempt.

Full payment for Petrick could be a contribution of $26,320 and Knife’s account could receive $6,685. Three years of retroactive payments could be $3,179 for Knife and $11,900 for Petrick.

Treasurer Ed Hallahan moved that the board authorize the full allowable payment.

Board member Drew Tracy said he believed the district might run afoul of Internal Revenue Service rules by making retroactive payments.

“I’m for doing it from this point forward,” Tracy said, recommending they resume regular annual payments in November as new property taxes come in..

Petrick said they would review proposed contributions with the plan administrator, the Oregon Fire District Directors Association, and the district’s auditor to make sure they are allowable. That did not persuade Tracy, and he was the lone dissenter in the 4-1 vote.

Petrick told YachatsNews she also needs to determine certain criteria are met, such as a response threshold of 10 percent of calls for volunteers, and consult with the auditor and LOSAP administrator before providing a final figure for the contributions.