Referendum Tuesday to Increase Benefit for E.H. Ambulance Volunteers

East Hampton Village will hold a referendum on Tuesday increase the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) benefits for active volunteer ambulance members.

The program is a financial benefit provided to the volunteers once they reach retirement age. The village is seeking approval to raise the benefit from $20 per month for each year of volunteer service to $30 per month for each year of service starting Jan. 1, which would match the incentive received by fire department volunteers.

The maximum monthly service award amount eligible volunteers would be able to accrue would go from $800 to $1,200 "based on 40 years of service credit earned," according to the text of the proposition.

The service award program will cost the village just over $85,000 — "or $1,330 per covered participant" — in the 2018 calendar year. That cost is expected to go up to about $145,000 per year — $2,270 per person — if the referendum is approved.

Polling will take place at the village’s Emergency Services Building at 1 Cedar Street from noon to 9 p.m.

Only people registered to vote in East Hampton Village may cast ballots on the measure.