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Date: 5/5/2022
HUNTINGTON — Like the town library, the Hilltown Community Ambulance Association also had its fiscal year 2023 budget slashed to zero in an April 29 meeting of Huntington’s Selectboard and Finance Committee.
Town officials instead plan to ask voters for a $60,000 override of Proposition 2½ to cover Huntington’s contribution to the regional agency, which is based in Huntington and also serves the towns of Blandford, Chester, Montgomery, Russell and Worthington.
Mary Ann Pease, speaking for Hilltown Community Ambulance, said in a statement that the agency is “highly sympathetic to our communities during budget season.”
“We know that each town faces tough decisions when it comes to managing finances,” Pease said. “Regarding Huntington’s move to fund our ambulance service through an override vote, we’re confident that once the word gets out, the many town residents who use our service, who frequently call to praise our providers, and who participate in our annual subscription program, will show up to support us.”
She warned, however, that if Huntington does not pay its share of the agency budget, Hilltown Community Ambulance will no longer serve the town. She said the agency has an average emergency response time of under 7 minutes in Huntington.
“Voters understand the clear health and welfare benefits of living in a community with a dedicated ambulance service,” said Pease. “And they understand the risks of not having one. If Huntington opts to not fund our service, residents will be left without any contracted ambulance coverage for any part of the community. This includes the Huntington Health Center, the Gateway complex, the Hamblin Court apartments and all other homes and businesses in town. If the override fails to pass, anyone inside Huntington requiring an ambulance will have to wait 20-40 minutes for an ambulance from another community.”
Selectboard Chair Edward Renauld said the town is required to provide emergency transport services, whether it’s Hilltown Community Ambulance or another service.
“I have no reason not to go through them,” he said. “We would like to be able to get that 2½ override passed. If that fails, we’re going to have to fund it one way or another. In our plan, we brought free cash down to $40,000, so we’re going to have to take [ambulance funding] out of stabilization.”
Free cash is money left over from previous budget years; stabilization is the town’s “savings account,” money that had been purposely set aside for emergency spending. Renauld said the town has had to take money from free cash and stabilization to balance its budget for several years.
“We’re going to explain what the financial situation of the town is, and let them make the decision for themselves,” Renauld said, adding, “I don’t think it’s going to be a huge uptick in people’s taxes. We’ll have all that information before the public hearing, so people know exactly what it’s going to cost them.”
A public hearing on the town budget and the Proposition 2½ overrides has been scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 16 in Stanton Hall, 26 Russell Rd., Huntington. In order to be enacted, the overrides would have to pass a ballot vote in a special election on June 4, and a vote at the annual Town Meeting on June 6.