NEW BERLIN – The towns of Columbus and New Berlin have voted to discontinue receiving service from the Village of New Berlin ambulance.

Columbus has instead approved a six-month agreement with Cooperstown Medical Transport (CMT) and will continue to receive service from Sherburne.

According to Supervisor Tom Grace, the decision to abandon the agreement with the Village of New Berlin is “a travesty.”

“I will do everything in my power to reverse this decision and make sure our residents have the best available local coverage,” he said.

However, board members of the Town of New Berlin have stood by their decision, citing inaccuracies in the ambulance service budget and a $53,000 deficit which has forced the village to remove funds from its own reserves.

“The village is going to do what it believes is best for the village,” said Town Supervisor Ross Iannello. “People just haven’t gotten enough information throughout this process.”

The decision to step away from the village ambulance service came after months of discussion regarding the formation of “ambulance districts” in the towns of Columbus and New Berlin.

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.