Editorial: Supporting our volunteers is the least we can do

There was no hint of opposition at Tuesday’s night informational meeting in Town Hall on the Town Board’s plan to offer a length of service award to qualifying ambulance squad volunteers age 65 and over.

And why would there be? Establishing the award program is the right thing to do. Voters will get the chance to accomplish it on Friday, August 3, when a referendum will be held from noon to 9 p.m. in Town Hall. Absentee ballots are available at the Town Clerk’s office for registered voters who will not be here then.

Other than supporters and architects of the proposal, no one spoke out on Tuesday night and only a few people asked questions. All were straightforward, with no hints of hostility.

How can anyone argue against paying a modest monthly award to the squad’s incredibly dedicated volunteers? It would total only $30 for each year of service after 2011 and $20 for the five years before; earlier service won’t count even though a number of the squad’s volunteers have been serving for decades.

A volunteer, age 65, who has served actively since 2007 will receive a monthly payment from the town for those five years of $100 ($20 times five). He or she will receive $30 a month for each year beginning with 2012 — the year the reward program will take effect if voters approve — but only if they remain active, as defined by the squad’s tough new rules defining credit requirements.

The estimated highest possible annual cost to the town of up to $100,000 will drop after five years, when the cost for earlier service is fully paid. The tax impact on a property owner with a median assessment of $617,000 is expected to be $22.21 a year.

That is far, far less than a professional ambulance squad, with all its salaries and benefits, would cost. But a professional squad is exactly what taxpayers face in the not-too-distant future unless volunteers are encouraged and stay on. It’s the least town taxpayers can do to say thank you for all the calls volunteers have made, and the meetings, training and other chores they’ve attended to, to make sure Islanders get help fast when they are stricken.

For decades, Shelter Islanders have had an ambulance service run by volunteers. When it was owned by the Red Cross, private donations paid the operating costs and volunteers had no monetary reward.

So why should they have one now? With the town takeover, the question of a Length of Service Award Program necessarily arises. The taxpayer-funded town fire district has one for its volunteers. How can the town do less for its ambulance volunteers — if not to protect its own interests in avoiding the need for a professional squad, then as a long overdue official thank you from everyone.