NEW BERLIN – Residents of New Berlin and Columbus swarmed their respective town halls Monday night to discuss the upcoming Jan. 24 vote to form separate ambulance districts.

The proposal on the referendum Jan. 24 would create two separate tax districts, one in each town, which would dictate a separate tax line specifically dedicated to financing emergency management and ambulance services.

In New Berlin, Supervisor Ross Iannello, along with Town Clerk Mary Brown and the town council, responded to questions from the nearly 40 people present. The Columbus meeting also drew a large crowd, more than 50 altogether, who attended in order to have their questions fielded by Supervisor Tom Grace, the town board and Jim Morris of the New York State Regional EMS office.

Confusion has arisen within the two towns as to the exact purpose of the formation of the tax districts. This is due, in part, to the recent formation of the Unadilla Valley Ambulance Corp., an ambulance service run by a not-for-profit company which would provide service to both New Berlin and Columbus.

The UVAC was formed by members of an advisory board originally created in order to determine a way to provide ambulance care to the above mentioned towns, as well as the village of New Berlin.

“I assure you that the two issues, the tax district and the ambulance service, are completely separate,” insisted Iannello. “The tax district deals with how the towns pay for the EMS service they receive ... it’s about putting a separate tax line into the budget that will show taxpayers exactly how much they are paying.”

However, numerous citizens spoke up during Monday’s meeting expressing doubts about the ultimate necessity of the tax district. They questioned the purpose of creating a separate line in the budget and whether that would increase their overall costs.

“From what I’ve researched, the creation of this district will ensure equal costs for members of the community across the board ... and it will also provide a level of oversight that hasn’t been there before,” said Columbus Council member Susan LaFever.

Columbus applied for a Certificate of Need in September which would give the town the right to contract with any ambulance service they choose. Both the town and village of New Berlin currently have a CON and through a previous contract with the village, Columbus has received aid to a portion of the town from the village’s ambulance service. The rest of the town has been covered in parts by either CMT or Sherburne.

Morris explained that the CON had passed its period of evaluation and was nearing the end of its 30-day appeal stage. He also said that the CON, once attained, could be used by the council to contract with any ambulance service they chose.