By: Brian Zanzonico
The Board of Trustees has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Malverne Public Library, 61 St. Thomas Place, to propose a Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) for the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The program financially rewards ambulance corps members in retirement.
According to Trustee William Malone, the village can choose between two plans. The first, called a defined-contribution plan, permits a municipality to contribute a fixed amount of money each year to the plan. How the fund performs over the years determines the amount of the benefit payable to a member when he or she reaches retirement.
The other plan, a defined-benefit plan, provides a fixed, predetermined benefit to the member upon retirement. The amount of money the village needs to contribute each year to the fund will fluctuate, and is determined by the performance of the fund. This is the same plan that the Village of Malverne approved in 1995 for the Malverne Fire Department. It calls for a member of the Volunteer Ambulance Corps to earn an annual pensionlike service award in an amount equal to $15 per month, $180 per year, for each year of service credit to a maximum of 40 years of service. The plan also allows currently active members to receive credit for up to five years of previous service. In order for a member to receive credit for a given year, he or she must earn a total of 50 points by participating in Corps-related activities such as responding to aided cases, assigned ambulance duty or attending training courses.
"This is a recruitment tool, but also a retention tool," Malone said.
The program will cost the village about $35,000 per year for the first five years. Beginning in the sixth year, the estimated cost will be about $20,000 per year. The initial five years require a higher amount because of the five years of previous credit being given to eligible current members.
The current cost of the LOSAP for the Malverne Fire Department is approximately $72,000 per year. The funds for the program are held in trust by New York state, and the program is currently overseen by Penflex Inc., an insurance company that has been awarded the state contract for these programs.
"The ambulance corps is looking for new headquarters," said Trustee Joseph Hennessy. "They're looking to recruit new members, and it's hard to get volunteers. I hope it'll be helped with a service award program."
Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps President David Walsh, a 33-year member of the fire department, said he hopes the success of the LOSAP in the fire department will carry over to the Malverne VAC. "Once the service award program went into effect, membership improved greatly," he said. "Not only new members, but those who stayed."
If the village board approves the service award program, it will appear on the ballot on Election Day, Thursday, March 17, and would take effect next Jan. 1. Any member whose service since Jan. 1, 2001, would allow them to accumulate the required 50 points for the year may get credit for those years as well as any future years.
Comments about this story? Mal-wheditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
