Why run REMS like a business and make a profit in order to pay their own bills when they can put an IV in the jugular vein of the tax payer and drain them forever.

I've heard that if the taxing district is established, Del Gallo wants to use it to fun Mohawk!  So much for Mohawk making money for the town...they will be taking it!

Quoted from 474

I've heard that if the taxing district is established, Del Gallo wants to use it to fun Mohawk!  So much for Mohawk making money for the town...they will be taking it!

REMS is the entity that can't sustain itself not mohawk! And with FDG being a 'self made business owner' know the difference and clearly should be supporting a superior private enterprise over taxing the people for a lesser service.

OK...but do you support TAXING PEOPLE for Mohawk? Mohawk was supposed to not cost the town anything. If the town votes for the taxing district, and then Del Gallo and Godlewski get their way, then the TAXING DISTRICT will support MOHAWK!

Quoted from 474

I've heard that if the taxing district is established, Del Gallo wants to use it to fun Mohawk!  So much for Mohawk making money for the town...they will be taking it!

If that's true it is because Del Gallo doesn't even know the particulars of the Mohawk proposal. If and when the tax district is
established, the town claims that the service will then have to go to bid...and Del Gallo probably thinks Mohawk would win a bidding
contest, which they likely would.
This longstanding proposal from Mohawk would contractually guarantee revenue of no less than $70,000 annually, along with all of
the other benefits discussed on this thread...a vote was never even necessary. If the referendum passes, and the town is legally
obligated to bid out the service, I think this makes an even stronger case for cancelling the vote altogether. When do potential
service providers "bid" on how much they are going to pay the town to provide the town with their goods or services? With ideas
like this flying around, it's a wonder the Mohawk offer still stands when you have municipal leaders who insist on paying for
something they have continually been offered not just at no cost, but at a profit to the town.

Quoted from 474

OK...but do you support TAXING PEOPLE for Mohawk? Mohawk was supposed to not cost the town anything. If the town votes for the taxing district, and then Del Gallo and Godlewski get their way, then the TAXING DISTRICT will support MOHAWK!

Then forget the vote and the tax district... and let Mohawk pay us instead. An unnecessary tax cannot be justified simply because
it funds REMS instead of those evil capitalists who just happen to make their money in the ems industry.

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Officials eye ambulance vote delay
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Confusion over the upcoming referendum on establishing an ambulance service taxing district has prompted a majority of Town Board members to support a resolution to postpone the vote.
    Board members Gerard Parisi, Niki DiLeva and Matt Martin are calling for the referendum to be put off until later this year so that the town can better inform residents about what the vote entails. The three are expected to advance a resolution during their meeting at Town Hall this evening.
    “That will give them enough time to understand the vote,” DiLeva said during an agenda meeting Monday. “We need to get the information out so that they know exactly what they’re voting on.”
    DiLeva argued that some residents weren’t aware of there being no absentee ballots in the referendum. Rotterdam’s two town attorneys advised the board to scrap absentee ballots to avoid a pre-registration for the vote.
    Opponents of the June 29 date for the referendum have also argued that it’s slated for a time when many take vacation. DiLeva said the vote would occur on a Tuesday before Independence Day weekend and after many area schools start their summer vacations.
    “It’s the worst time to have the vote,” she said.
    Supervisor Frank Del Gallo and board member Robert Godlewski both indicated they want to move ahead with the referendum as scheduled. Del Gallo acknowledged there’s a degree of misinformation about the upcoming vote but believes there’s still enough time to clarify any questions residents may have.
    Del Gallo also indicated the referendum won’t necessarily decide the town’s ambulance provider. Regardless of the vote, he said, the board intends to bid out its ambulance service.
    “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It still has to be bid on.”
    Town Attorney Michael Godlewski said the vote is nonbinding, meaning board members would still need to accept the new taxing district if voters were to approve it. He characterized the referendum as a “feedback mechanism” for the board, which will make the fi nal decision.
    This position is different from one taken by the administration of former Supervisor Steve Tommasone. Tommasone suggested the referendum would decide whether the town would support Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services Inc. through a special property tax.
    The nonprofi t ambulance company relies on funding from the town to augment its operating revenue and would likely go insolvent in its absence. The town’s contract with REMS pays the company $120,000 and expires at the end of the year.
    By not naming an ambulance service in the vote, board members could ultimately give the contract to to another service, such as Mohawk Ambulance Service, a for-profit company that has courted Rotterdam for years.
    Joe VanDerwerker, the president of REMS’ board of directors, was surprised to learn the referendum carried an open-ended contract for ambulance service. Like many others, he had the understanding that the vote would be to support REMS with a taxing district.
    “This is supposed to be for REMS,” he said Tuesday. “It’s not supposed to be for an outside contract to bid on this thing.” ..............>>>>.................>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1

Quoted Text

Make it easier to vote on Rotterdam ambulance

    Town officials have scheduled a referendum for June 29 over the somewhat controversial creation of a new taxing district to support the private Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services Inc. That’s the Tuesday leading up to the Fourth of July, when some residents will likely be out of town.
    Normally, such a problem would be addressed by absentee ballots, but none are being allowed for this referendum because town offi cials only want property owners — not tenants — to be able to vote. Why? The answer is anybody’s guess, but the circumstances certainly make it appear that at least some Rotterdam officials want to limit voter participation.
    Whether they think that will doom its chances or enhance them is also anybody’s guess, but it would be preferable if the town board decided to change the date of the referendum to accommodate more voters. If nothing else, that would give both sides more opportunity to present their cases, which so far hasn’t been done very well.
    Councilman Gerard Parisi and Councilwoman Nicola DiLeva are supporting an effort to change the referendum date to Sept. 14 — Primary Day. This would not only provide residents more time to educate themselves about the plan, which would reportedly add 10 cents per $1,000 valuation to their tax bills, it would give more people a chance to vote on the measure — not just vacationers and shut-ins, but renters. These people are all entitled to vote, via absentee ballot or in person, on school budgets, for example; why not on an ambulance referendum?

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00704&AppName=1

either way a taxing district to raise $$$
and then a pay back of only $70K
sounds like a great deal for whom ever wins except the taxpayers
sounds like Rotterdam does not have enough sick residents to warrant even bus service - just ask CTDA
next we will have a land bank to ensure we have a collection of properties at $20,000 for the under served

Quoted from TippyCanoe

either way a taxing district to raise $$$
and then a pay back of only $70K
sounds like a great deal for whom ever wins except the taxpayers
sounds like Rotterdam does not have enough sick residents to warrant even bus service - just ask CTDA
next we will have a land bank to ensure we have a collection of properties at $20,000 for the under served

That's the kicker...there has never been a need to raise money through any means...taxing or otherwise. REMS and their firefighter
supporters apparently thought they would be the uncontested winners in a fixed vote that will now be postponed, but should be
cancelled.

Quoted from 487

Talking to yourself again KR?  Cybill at her best.  MEOW!  Soon enough Cicero Lazzari will be weighing in.  Mark my words.  MEOW!

Based on the course of this thread discussion, and the latest developments in this saga, I think it's clear that I have been talking to
everyone but myself Diane. If you knew anything about Mrs. Lazzari you would know that she would never suggest public funding
of any kind for this service, given the alternative. It's not hard to mark your words since most consist of four letters, or less...and
they're even easier to discredit. The tax district scam in which you are involved Diane is falling apart...and acting like an idiot won't
save it.

Can the town board really be that stupid to try to form a tax district so we can bid out the service when the company who will most likely get the bid is willing to give the town money now instead of take it in the future? Even REMS is being deceived by this move and who stands to gain by this being done. If the town board forces this vote on June 29 there should be a lawsuit filed on behalf of the disabled residents who were denied an absentee ballot and their privilege to vote on an issue that could cost them money.

Joe VanDerwerker, the Presidents of the REMS is even unclear of the term of the referendum.  And he's been intimately involved since day one.  This process has been botched royally.  That's what happens when our "leaders"(by title only) act with such deception.  All the half truths and lies begin to unravel and the incompetence shines through.  

As long as the town board is ultimately going to make the decision on who and what entity is going to handle rotterdam's ambulance service, there shouldn't be a vote...PERIOD!

I would also expect our current town board to vote NO for yet another taxing district at a time when our economic future is at risk. This is clearly NO TIME to impose more taxes on it's residents.

Again......why is rotterdam even contemplating a taxing district when there is a private, solid business that will offer a more superior service at NO COST TO THE TAXPAYERS? ............and give money back to the community yearly! Plus employ the rems workers and take over both locations in rotterdam, placing them back on the tax roll. AND supply an ALS service as opposed to a BLS aka transport service.

Think about it this way.....the taxpayers are already paying rems $120K a year. REMS just applied for a $200K + tax paid grant. They are paying back overdue taxes to the IRS.............and yet they want even more of the taxpayer's money.

REMS has had ample time to get their financial sh!t together.....but haven't. I know, I know....someone's friend or family member or neighbor works for rems and they are just such nice people. No argument there. But folks that is NOT the issue. This is a 'taxing' issue that will effect rotterdam taxpayers for decades to come!!!

Come on people.....it is a no brainer here!!

Can anybody say 'clusterfu(k?'


WOW, and I though the Obama administration was filled with inexperienced, incompetent newbies with no experience in running anything but the Harvard Law newsletter. Holy smokes this is screwed up.