By SETH AUGENSTEIN
saugenstein@njherald.com
Voters in Sparta and Hampton approved state benefits programs for their emergency volunteers at the polls Tuesday.
Sparta's referendum to create the Length of Service Awards Program, or LOSAP, was resoundingly approved, 57 to 43 percent (3,974 - 3,020). In Hampton, voters pushed through the program by a mere 17 votes, 967 - 950, by Tuesday night's unofficial totals. (About 100 provisional ballots from across the county remain to be counted, although statistically they are not likely to change the "yes" result in Hampton).
The LOSAPs succeeded despite a dismal
economy.
Captain Jim Burroughs of the Sparta Volunteer Ambulance Squad said he was "thrilled" for the future of his outfit -- and for the financial savings to the town.
"It's a wiser tax move," he said. "In the big picture, what we did ask for is better in the long term."
Dave Gunderman, past chief and current president of the Hampton Fire and Rescue Squad, was apprehensive but hopeful the LOSAP margin would remain after the provisional votes were counted. The final results will be available Thursday.
"With the voting being so close, I just hope it stays approved," he said.
Both towns' benefits would work similarly to smaller-scale pension systems, which reward volunteers for continued commitment. The Sparta Ambulance Squad planned the campaign to institute the program for the better part of a decade before putting it in front of voters. In Hampton, the township's Fire and Rescue Squad also campaigned actively for the benefits.
The LOSAPs will be based on a points system evaluating the volunteer's rate of involvement with the squad. Members are to be awarded points for showing up at emergency calls, attending regular meetings, taking part in drills, or undergoing training. The member would be granted a percentage of a maximum earnings threshold.
In Sparta, that threshold will top out at $1,150 in 2012 for each eligible member, totaling $92,000 in the municipal budget for that year. Sparta has already budgeted $45,000 for this year to the squad for ambulances, gasoline, equipment and other costs.
Hampton budgeted a total of $132,250 for all volunteers on their squad for the first eligible year.
Volunteer emergency workers across the Garden State have instituted the program as an incentive to keep membership, and involvement, going in lieu of full-time, paid fire and rescue squads.
Before Tuesday there were 362 agencies statewide, including whole municipalities and single fire districts from all of New Jersey's 21 counties, which have instituted local LOSAPs since the state Legislature created the program in 1998. Eight towns in Sussex County have created the program: Fredon, Green, Hardyston, Hopatcong, Newton, Stillwater, Sussex and Wantage. All eight instituted their programs between 2002 and 2004.
Burroughs said the bond between his squad the community was evident with Tuesday's local vote.
"We're proud of our members, and proud of our community. We're there for them and they're there for us," he said. "We won't let them down."
