<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3lqB44_1FYXrXX800" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3lqB44_1FYXrXX800" width="350" height="225" ><figcaption>The Granby Ambulance Association has been in its current location since 1981. Photo by Shirley Murtha</figcaption></figure>Before the Granby Ambulance Association existed, a Cadillac station wagon kept in a barn responded to motor vehicle accidents and household injuries. The late Cal Heminway and other concerned citizens put an end to that and established a trained volunteer service to handle such emergencies. That was in 1963.In that same year, Granby resident Robert Fox passed away, and left the town $50,000 with the caveat that any principal and investment earnings must be spent “for the care, benefit and support of the needy people of the Town of Granby.” Today, 63 years later, these two events intersected when it was discovered that through prudent fiscal management, the original $50,000 has increased to $1.267 million, but nothing has been done to use the money in the way Fox had intended.Anyone who has ever had to call on the services of the GAA knows firsthand that it is a professional, skilled and dedicated group led by Chief of Service and Granby resident Kate Coupe. Rising costs in paramedic salaries, drugs and capital equipment since post-Covid, combined with ever-shrinking revenue reimbursement from private insurance carriers, Medicare and Medicaid, create constant challenges.Every time the GAA rolls to a call for service, it loses $42 on an operating basis, and when the capital costs of ambulances and medical gear are included, that figure escalates to $95. This is clearly an unsustainable business model. Town Manager Mike Walsh, knowing that the ambulance association was in great need, proposed that the Board of Selectmen authorize increasing the town’s annual contribution to the GAA from $20,000 to $80,000, utilizing the Fox Fund. Here is how it works.The income-based Senior Tax Credit program costs the Town of Granby $330,000 annually. Using the Fox Fund to reimburse the town 20 percent of the cost of the tax credit program (about $60,000), creates space in the town budget to increase the annual contribution to the GAA by $60,000. The motion to authorize this transfer was presented to the Board of Selectmen on July 6. It was approved unanimously.Robert Fox’s selfless contribution coupled with careful financial stewardship by Granby’s elected officials over the years resulted in increased funding to the GAA. Moving the organization to a sustainable level benefits all of Granby’s residents.</div></body>

Block Source: granbydrummer.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Before the Granby Ambulance Association existed, a Cadillac station wagon kept in a barn responded to motor vehicle accidents and household injuries. The late Cal Heminway and other concerned citizens put an end to that and established a trained volunteer service to handle such emergencies. That was in 1963. In...

Town increases support for Granby Ambulance Association

NewsBreak

Before the Granby Ambulance Association existed, a Cadillac station wagon kept in a barn responded to motor vehicle accidents and household injuries. The l

Town increases support for Granby Ambulance Association

Comments