Enticing volunteers
Big bucks for benefits


How much are you willing to pay your volunteer firefighters and ambulance service workers"

New Scotland residents will have to decide in a referendum vote this fall if they want to give each active volunteer $700 a year in retirement benefits, through the Length of Service Award Program, LOSAP; local residents’ tax dollars pay for it.

LOSAP was authorized by state law on Sept. 1, 1989. The purpose of the program is to serve as incentive to keep members, recruit members, and to promote active members.

At age 62, members receive a lump sum based on their years of service. If the new incentive passes, a 40-year active member at age 62, for example, would receive $28,000.
"This program has been very beneficial to our community in retaining active volunteers. Active is the key," said Mark Wilson, president of the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company.

Participants gain service points in a variety of ways, such as going to meetings, training, being on call, or holding elected positions.

In order for a member to be eligible to receive the annual benefits, he or she must garner 50 points. Without at least 50 points, volunteers get zero dollars, Wilson said.

State law lays out specifically what volunteers can receive points for, setting maximums, and leaving some room for individual department discretion.

For example, the state law says that firefighters can receive a maximum of five points for teaching a fire-prevention class. Members can also earn one point for participating in inspections.

The Onesquesthaw point system was adopted by the company’s board of directors, the chief, and assistant chief on Dec. 7, 1994. At Onesquesthaw Volunteer Fire Company, the chief gets 25 points, for holding his post, the president gets 25 points, and a member of the board gets 10.

A firefighter can get one point for being in a parade, up to 20 points for participating in drills, up to 25 points for training courses, up to 20 points for emergency response.

Payment

Each year, all the members’ dollars are invested as a group, Wilson said; then, when a members turns 62, he receives in one lump sum all the money that he earned over the years of service.
The law reads, "All program assets shall be held in trust for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits."

New Scotland Supervisor Ed Clark, said that the town collects the taxes and then puts the money into the designated fund that the individual fire companies have established for the program.

All of the departments have hired their own consulting companies to disperse and invest the funds, Clark said.

The state maximum that was allowed to be awarded was $480; this is the amount that the town of New Scotland has been giving.

This year the state legislature raised the maximum amount of benefits to $700, and Onesquethaw fire department’s engineering officer, Jeff Houck, said that the department came to the New Scotland Town Board, asking for the increase.

Under the current 2005 program, if a volunteer has served for five years, earning 50 points each year, when he turns 62, he will receive $2,400. If he were in the company for 20 years, remaining active and earning the required points, then at age 62, he would receive $9,600.

Then, if a member remains with the volunteer company past the age of 62, each year after that in which he earns the required 50 points, he will receive an additional payment for that year, on that year, with no waiting period.

Board support

The New Scotland Town Board unanimously passed a resolution this month to allow for the public referendum to be held on increasing the benefits from the current $480 to $700.
"Emergency services are needed and we don’t want to be left without them," Clark said.
"Volunteerism is something that can be supported and we want to use every tool we can," he said.
Being a volunteer firefighter or ambulance-service volunteer is a "tremendous demand on their time," Clark said adding that the town wants to make it worth their while to join.
Since the LOSAP program "has worked well in the past in keeping people involved," it is something that the town continues to support, Clark said.

If voters, in a referendum, pass the town board’s resolution, it will mean $220 more for each active member will come from town taxpayers. In 2004, Onesquethaw had 61 people who qualified, Wilson said. The town’s other fire department, based in New Salem, last year had 28 qualifying members, Clark said.

So, if the same number qualify next year, that will mean $19,580 more for a total of $62,300 just for Onesquethaw and New Salem.

The Onesquethaw Company, serves the hamlets of Clarksville, Unionville, and Feura Bush. It also provides ambulance service to the southern side of New Scotland.

The New Salem Fire Department responds to fire emergencies in the other half of town, that surrounds the village of Voorheesville.

The Voorheesville Area Ambulance Service Inc. provides basic life support services to the village and the New Salem Fire District area.

Voorheesville Area Ambulance’s LOSAP costs are shared between the village and the town.

The town’s referendum states that 57 percent will be paid by the town and 43 percent by the village.

The village’s fire department has opted not to request a benefit increase, Steven’s said, because they want to renovate the fire house with a 1.2 million dollar project, which will already be a large increase in the village tax, Stevens said.

Voorheesville Ambulance, Inc. along with the other two town volunteer services are requesting the raise in benefits.

Referendum

State law says that to institute or raise the benefits, a mandatory referendum has to be held.

The New Scotland Town Board set the town’s referendums — to be held in each of the districts, New Salem, Onesquethaw, and Voorheesville — for Sept. 27, from noon to 9 p.m.

The village doesn’t have to hold its referendum for the ambulance service at the same time, but Jack Stevens said that he hopes to schedule the village’s referendum in mid- September as well.
For the town, three separate referendums, one for each district, will require a "yes" or "no" vote from residents to increase annual benefits from $480 to $700 a year, starting Dec. 31, 2005.

This means the increase may pass in some districts, but not others.

In New Salem the current cost is approximately $29,000, and the referendum states that the amended program for the next year will cost approximately $26,600.

The Onesquethaw program costs $44,300 this year and the estimated new cost will be $44,100.

Looking at the wording on the referendum the overall cost appears to be decreasing. However, in actuality, an increase from $480 to $700, will obviously increase the cost the program annually.

Supervisor Clark explained that, when New Scotland first started participating in the LOSAP program in 1995, the town also chose to include a five-year buyback, so that the town paid volunteers for five years of, previous service.

Rather than having to pay those five years in one lump sum, the town has been paying it in increments, so the overall cost of the program, reflected in the 2005 number also includes money for the buyback.

New Scotland will be finished with paying off the buy back at the end of this year, so then the estimated 2006 number reflects just the cost of the program with the $220 per-member increase.

State-wide

Municipalities and volunteer departments don’t have to give notice to any state-level agency once they have started a program. The only oversight is that towns are required to report the financial activity of the program to the state comptroller’s office.

The National Volunteer Fire Council, says that there are 500 LOSAP programs in operation in the state, and over a quarter of a billion dollars are invested in the program by local governments.

Guilderland’s supervisor, Kenneth Runion, said that he believes each of Guilderland’s fire districts participate in the LOSAP program, but that it is left up to the control of each volunteer department.

Jim Schanz, of the Guilderland Fire Department, explained why Guilderland is different than New Scotland.

In Guilderland, each fire department is its own independent taxing agency, he said. Each fire department has a board of fire commissioners, with five members, who set the tax levy, Schanz said.

Guilderland firefighters currently receive $480 in benefits if they have garnered the 50 points, Schanz said.

Schanz said that his department is in the process of researching and considering increasing the benefits to the state-allowed $700.

He said, if the board of commissioners decided, it does want to increase the benefit, it does not have to get approved by the town board. The board of commissioners can pass its own resolution, make a proposal to the residents, and then hold a referendum for the mandatory voter approval.

The Guilderland Fire Department would most likely hold this referendum at the regular fire department elections in December, Schanz said, if the board decides it’s something it would like to do.
None of the Hilltowns — Rensselaerville, Knox, Westerlo, or Berne — participate in LOSAP, although Westerlo’s supervisor Richard Rapp said that he just heard about the program this year and that the town board is considering it. But, he emphasized, "just thinking" about it because of concerns it would be too expensive. Rapp said he thinks it might be put on the town board’s agenda in September.

Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier said Berne doesn’t participate in LOSAP because of the cost. Crosier works professionally as a paid firefighter in Albany.
In Berne, both the fire and ambulance companies want it, Crosier said, but it would cost well over a $100,000. Berne residents would see about "a 20-percent increase in property taxes," Crioser said adding, It’s too much.
Also, he said, he read the comptroller’s 2001 report on LOSAP, "and they’re in doubt if it even is working," Crosier said.
"I don’t think it’s doing a good job," Crosier said; LOSAP is just throwing a lot of money at a program that’s not fixing anything, he said.

He does believe the volunteers should be rewarded, Crosier said, but perhaps in another way.

Comptroller’s report

The state comptroller’s office investigated two things in 2001: how effective the program has been in the recruitment and retention of volunteers; and whether the program’s assets are being managed effectively.

The report reviewed 34 local governments, and came to the conclusion that, generally, LOSAP helped with retention but only five of the 34 sponsors thought the program was helpful with recruitment.

Also, the comptroller recommended for better investment, that different fire districts pool their dollars for investment, so they could eliminate overhead costs of financial consultants and have more money to invest.

The comptroller’s report said that state-wide, while volunteer enrollment initially spiked with the start of benefit award programs, it then decreased.

Local effect

The Enterprise gathered statistics for New Scotland’s districts.

According to Wilson, Onesquethaw, at the start of New Scotland’s program in 1995, had 60 members, of whom 38 garnered 50 points or more. Then, in 1997, 43 members earned enough points to receive benefits, and, in 2004, Onesquethaw had 72 members with 61 earning 50 points or more.

So, over the course of the program for this district, active membership has indeed increased from 38, to 43 to 61 people — meaning an increase of 60 percent.

Craig Shufelt of the New Salem Volunteer Fire Department said that their number of members from 1995 till now has stayed about 52 and, through the years, about 35 people have regularly garnered enough points to receive benefits.

He said that New Salem has been gaining new members, but it balances out because others are turning 62 and getting out, so overall the membership numbers has stayed the same, he said.

But, Shufelt said, he has seen LOSAP benefit the New Salem Fire District in other ways.
"We work more as a team than we would have," he said. Now, rather than just a few members doing a lot of the work, all the members are going to more meetings and more training, and members have an incentive to continue going to drills rather than just doing one or two, he said.
The New Salem Fire Department is "more proficient," Shufelt said, so LOSAP has helped.

The Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department, although not asking for benefit increases, since it is requesting village tax dollars to pay for firehouse renovations, it has participated in LOSAP and will continue to participate at the old rate.

The president of the Voorheesville Fire Department, Richard Berger, said that, when he joined in 1969, there used to be a waiting list to get in.

Over the last 10 years of the LOSAP program, Voorheesville’s Fire Department has had about 45 to 55 members, primarily staying around 50, Berger said.
The village fire department "has fortunately done very well with membership," Berger said. "We haven’t really felt the shortage like other departments have," he said of the trend across the state.

In 1997, thirty-eight Voorheesville firefighters garnered 50 points or more. In 2003, 39 members earned enough points. In 1998 and 1999, thirty-six members received benefits, and in 2000 and 2001, forty-two members received benefits.

Berger said he thinks that LOSAP is working for members at all stages of life. It’s a good incentive for the younger members to become active, he said, and he believes the older members remain a little more active because of the benefit incentive as well.

Also, he said, the members who have been very active all along, and at age 62, receive the accumulated benefits, but are motivated to remain active because of the additional yearly pay-out after age 62.

Robin Shufelt, of the Voorheesville Ambulance Service said that on average the service has 22 people earning enough points. While she is not entirely convinced that LOSAP helps their recruitment, it definitely keeps existing members more active, she said.

There is always turnout at training, she said. She is hopeful that the increase to $700 will entice and bring in some new members.

The town’s ambulance services began being eligible for the LOSAP program in 2000, Shufelt said.

In 2000, Voorheesville Ambulance Service had 37 members; in 2001, it had 34 members; in 2002, it had 40 members; in 2003 it had 45 members; and in 2004, it had 49 members.

This member count, however, also includes associate members who have been a part of the ambulance service for at least 10 years and have opted to become semi-retired, Shufelt said. These associate members are not eligible for service award benefits, she said.

Also, the member count includes veteran members, who have been in the squad for 20 years, some of whom chose to remain active and others who chose not be active but simply remain a member in good standing, she explained.

From 2000 to 2004, the number of members who earned enough points to receive benefits go chronologically in this order: 19, 26, 25, 23, and 19 members.

Shufelt said she believes LOSAP gets people to stay with the service for a longer period of time.

Wilson of Onesquethaw said his department has active members in their 70’s and one in his 80’s, who is still earning over 50 points, he earned his 45-year pin this year, Wilson said.

Onesquethaw has many members who are actually receiving their pay-out now, and receiving yearly checks since they are past the age of 62. The Onesquethaw Company has 16 members of retirement age, Wilson said.
"There is a spot for everyone to do something," Wilson said. He said one of the elder members, for example, has volunteered to write the thank-you letters to donors, Wilson said.

Since Onesquethaw is both a fire and ambulance service, Wilson explained that members are not able to collect benefits twice.

Members points are tracked for ambulance service and fire service, but once members reach 50 points, say as fire fighters, they would then qualify to receive their $700 in retirement benefits; but then not be able to collect another $700 as an ambulance member.

Robin Shufelt said the ambulance service in Voorheesville is run a little differently than the fire departments.
"We sign up for the time and hours to be on call," she said. This way, the service always knows it has two or three or four people ready to go out on a call, she said.

But, she said, individuals can’t get all of their points just in on-call hours; they can only get up to 30 points for on-call hours. The rest of the 50 points must be earned through meetings, drills, training sessions, and fund-raisers, she said.
Also, by state regulation, Shufelt said, "If you get 50 points by June, you still have to continue doing hours and going to meetings." A member has to be in good standing to receive the benefit dollars at the end of the year. She went on, members can’t just quit or slack off and not participate mid-year because they have already earned all their points, she said.

Total cost

So, based on the numbers of recent years supplied by representatives of each district, next year, the town can anticipate New Salem having 35 people receiving benefits; Onesquethaw, 61 people; and Voorheesville Ambulance, 19. At $700 a piece, this would mean an estimated annual total cost to taxpayers of $80,500, keeping in mind that the village ambulance service will be paid for in part by New Scotland residents and by village residents.

Village residents, will be paying 43 percent of the $13,300 for the ambulance service retirement benefits. Since the Voorheesville Fire Department has not requested a benefit increase, its 36 members who have qualified would still get the current $480, meaning $17,280.

Combining the village’s and town’s anticipated LOSAP cost, if the increase is approved by voters, this brings the total expense for 2007 to $97,780.