LOSAP - More Then Just An Award

Some 25 years ago, the state of New York passed legislation permitting volunteer fire districts to have the right to start up Length of Service Awards Programs (LOSAP)for their volunteer members in an effort to retain/recruit members.

The main thrust of the program was to pay an "annuity" to volunteers who accumulated enough points during the course of a year to qualify for annuity points and after five years of "annuity" points, the member would become "vested" and at a pre-determined age, would be entitled to a monthly payment predicated upon length of credited service.

Of course at the early stages of writing the legislation proposals, there was an outcry from the career firefighters and their unions claiming the money could be better spent hiring career firefighters and more equipment, etc. While they had their own agenda, strong lobbying efforts by FASNY and individual firefighters helped to get this legislation passed and 25 years later many people have benefited from it.

Something many volunteers need to take into account is the fact that many of them are employed by small companies who do not provide defined pension plans and as such, aside from whatever savings they accumulate over the years they are employed, all they'll have to look forward to is government supplied Social Security and who knows what It'll look like in 20-30 years from now. The LOSAP is another way to cushion the retirement years and make their lives just a bit easier. Put in five good years and you've gotten yourself vested and and when you hit that magic age, the money starts rolling in every month.

Some may argue whether or not it actually helps retain and/or attract volunteers. I've found in my 25 years in the program that each department that I've been a member of found an initial surge of members showing up for as many alarms,drills, meetings and details that they could possible make in order to get their points and thus qualify for LOSAP credits. Over time it does tend to level out, but I can attest that recruiting continues remain stable with new members joining our ranks ever year. While expensive to start up, I think long-term the fire district benefits from having qualified fire fighters retained and staying very active. Some may leave for many reasons, but those who stay in most cases can be depended on to respond to calls and attend meetings and drills on a consistent basis.

When I joined the fire service in 1975, there was no LOSAP, medical assistance, free pool passes, train rides, etc. We did it because we wanted to volunteer and make a difference; I still to this day think that people continue to join our ranks not because of the benefits, but for the camaraderie and the satisfaction of making a difference in the communities that we live in. I think those who join only for the LOSAP (and their are some) or other benefits have the same mentality as some of our paid counterparts; ie. being in it for the money which most rational thinking people would agree. But the majority are in it to make a difference.

The fire service continues to evolve and as volunteers, we too are evolving; programs such as LOSAP are good in that they benefit the volunteers and public in general as it helps keep down the costs of having to have a fully paid department.