Walker Township officials have defended their use of fire tax money, after a local fire company questioned whether they were budgeting it correctly.

Last month, a trustee with the New England Fire Company, criticized the township supervisors for using fire tax revenue to pay for the firefighters' workers' compensation.Saturday was the first time since the meeting they were able to address the issue with their attorney, Michael Greek, who defended the supervisors for budgeting the money toward the workers' compensation payments."There is no statute precluding you from using fire tax funds to pay for workman's compensation," Greek said.Residents pay a 0.75-mill fire tax each year in addition to the township's 4.79-mill general fund tax.The fire department official Art Valentine spoke at two supervisors' meetings and told the supervisors that they were in the wrong for using revenue from the fire tax, as well as their local services tax, to pay for workers' compensation. He would presumably like to see the fire department have more control over how that money is spent. He did not attend Saturday's meeting.Greek said that using fire tax money for workers' compensation is common in townships and boroughs around the commonwealth. He said he talked to the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, who said it's done elsewhere, and permitted by law."A lot of municipalities do it that way," Greek said. "You are the trustee of that money."He cited cases showing it was legal to use the fire tax money. In regard to the LST money, he said that budget is approved by the township's independent auditors each year.Unfortunately for both parties, workers' compensation insurance is taking up a larger share of the costs to run a fire department. Walker Township plans to spend $7,850 - about half of its fire budget - on workers' compensation insurance. The cost of the insurance has skyrocketed statewide in recent years because of a law that gives firefighters a much longer window to file cancer claims."Workman's comp. shot through the roof (in price) since 9/11," Greek said. "You can't even get coverage from these carriers. You have to use the state."