24/7 Paid Paramedics for East Hampton

The East Hampton Village Board's tentative 2015-16 budget, unveiled last Thursday, includes money to extend its paid emergency medical services program so that a first responder can be on staff around the clock seven days a week.

At present, one paramedic or critical care technician, both of whom offer advanced life support care, is on duty from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week to supplement the village's volunteer ambulance association. 

"This program has become an invaluable asset to the village and works in conjunction with our dedicated volunteers to serve all of our residents and visitors," Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. wrote in his budget statement. It will double in cost in the next fiscal year, but is expected to remain steady afterward.

In the proposed $20.53 million fiscal plan, the village's total ambulance expenditures would jump from $315,000 to $443,000.

Over all, the budget represents a spending increase of 1.1 percent. The tax rate, at $28 per $100 of assessed value, will not change from this fiscal year. The village will collect nearly $12.36 million in taxes in the next fiscal year, an increase of $87,232, or .7 percent, over this year's tax levy.

The budget also includes a village match for a grant from Suffolk County for a stormwater abatement project in the Hook Pond watershed, details of which are to be unveiled at a May 30 meeting. Other proposed capital projects include the purchase of equipment for the village's Department of Public Works and roof repair at the Sea Spray Cottages at Main Beach, which are a significant source of rental income for the village. The village will also set aside additional reserves for future fire department and ambulance purchases.

Increases in the mortgage recording tax, sales of beach parking permits, and building permit revenues are expected to boost non-property tax revenue by $154,210. The village expects to save some money by having some maintenance work performed in house, rather than contracting with an outside company. The refinancing of two bonds also reduced long-term debt, the mayor wrote.

In the last seven years, the mayor said, the village tax rate has increased less than 2 percent on average. "The Village of East Hampton has been fortunate to maintain a healthy financial outlook," he said, "while seeking to provide the level of services expected by its residents and while keeping spending at an appropriate level." He thanked his colleagues on the board as well as Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, and department heads. "We want to give back as much to the taxpayer as we can by way of revenues we incur," he said.

Also revealed at the work session was a proposed five-year capital plan, succeeding the plan that expires at the end of the fiscal year, on July 31. The plan, Ms. Molinaro said, anticipates approximately $1 million less in spending on capital projects then the preceding plan. Highlights include appropriations for construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Toilsome and Buell Lanes sometime in 2015, for which the village received a $700,000 grant from the state, and a Newtown Lane resurfacing project, as well as potential vehicle acquisitions including an ambulance and two fire trucks. Adopting the plan, Ms. Molinaro said, would allow the village board to use it as a guideline as it prepares annual budgets over the next five years.

"This is an extended-family operation," the mayor said of the proposed 2015-16 budget and five-year plan. "Hopefully it will be well received by the public."