LEGISLATURE STUFF - Finding the Funding

By Michael Ryan

CATSKILL - It is not a done deal yet, but towns could be seeing significant savings in their budgeting for ambulance services following a Greene County Legislature workshop, earlier this week.

Lawmakers, on Monday night, held their second informal bull session on the issue within the past two weeks, also tackling controversy swirling around the Meal on Wheels home delivery program.

Tentative agreement was apparently made to subsidize the county’s 14 towns to the tune of $2 million, total, for ambulance costs.

The major portion of that, $1.5 million, will be a direct payment to each town based on their percentage of the county tax levy.

And another $445,713 will be absorbed by the county, picking up the tab for each town’s annual contribution to the Greene County Emergency Medical Services paramedic flycar unit.

The county already pays roughly 80 percent of the GCEMS yearly budget, opting now to bear full responsibility, which, in 2026, will be slightly over $2.5 million, county budget figures show.

None of this will be final until related resolutions pass through various legislative committees, a process beginning on November 5 and  concluding on November 19 with passage of the 2026 budget.

And there will be strings attached. Any town accepting the dollars must first agree to move toward equalization of ambulance worker salaries and benefits, and consistency of training for incoming EMT’s, as well as standardization of equipment, materials, etc.

The end goal, county officials say, is to put every local squad on the same playing field, ultimately evolving toward one, countywide system.

Ambulance service has been a hot topic over the past year as county and town government leaders debated whether or not to establish a single countywide system, eliminating municipally operated units.

While it appeared that would happen, earlier this year, concerns began to emerge about the overall expense, estimated at between $12-15 million, nearly doubling what is now spent by the county and towns combined.

Most of that added funding was to be directed toward hiring more workers and increasing their pay and benefits, which is widely agreed must occur,  keeping up with changing realities in emergency medical services.

There is broad consensus the day is coming when towns will be forced out of the ambulance business due to those changes, but when and how that comes about is the source of considerable dispute.

In the meantime, at least for 2026, the county is expected to ease the tax burden on town budgets, drawing the $2 million from a deep pool of unanticipated sale tax revenue reserves.

Numbers for the six mountaintop towns, based on initial figures compiled by the county, will be in the following range (subject to modification):

—Ashland ($63,892), Hunter ($155,589), Jewett ($40,247), Lexington ($37,899), Prattsville ($81,288) and Windham ($188,199).

Windham operates a paramedic system, contracting with Jewett to provide service there. Ashland contracts with Lexington and Prattsville to provide service while Hunter has a solo operation.

Those six towns regularly provide backup, not just on the mountaintop but elsewhere in the county as well, as do virtually all ambulance crews.

There is talk, since the countywide system has been put on hold, that the six mountaintop towns could form their own consortium in what could become the first link in a connected countywide chain.

If that unfolds, county officials will apply for a State grant up to $1.25 million to assist in that consolidation, perhaps partnering in the plan.

And thought is being given to adding a pair of transport ambulances to the overall fleet, similar in theory to the flycars that are at the ready 24/7/365, strategically positioned throughout the county. Flycars do not transport patients to a hospital.

Mountaintop towns are expected to welcome the county’s generosity, even while realizing the same taxpayers ultimately foot both bills.

“The money comes from one of our pockets or the other,” Prattsville town supervisor Greg Cross says. “But this is $81,000 less I have to come up with in my budget, so I’m happy.”

County administrator Shaun Groden says the county budget will not have to budge, using rainy day dollars, which are currently ample, to keep the overall tax levy unchanged at $27,404,370 for the seventh straight year.

Turning attention to the Meal on Wheels program, lawmakers will reportedly maintain the present plan of delivering five hot meals per week (one each weekday) to homebound residents.

Consideration was being given by the Department of Aging to reducing deliveries to once per week, including one warm meal and four frozen meals for the rest of the week.

That cost efficiency measure was opposed by many citizens who voiced their dissatisfaction during an October 25 county budget public hearing.

While the program is not designed to offer the comfort of human interaction for homebound residents, opponents of the cutbacks said recipients have come to depend on those visits, often having no other contact.

The program is expected to simply continue as it is, with no further budget impacts since the proposed changes were never implemented.

Tight schedules by volunteer drivers will need be enforced, ensuring hot food is delivered in a timely manner, notifying the proper agency if a resident requires care or other attention, officials said.

Source: The Schoharie News