The Mandate: Under current law, municipalities with fewer than 50 employees must have a community-rated health plan.  By extension, a multiple employer trust of several municipalities attempting to jointly purchase health insurance must also be community-rated if any of its constituent employers has less than 50 employees.

The Mandate: The authorities having control over a volunteer fire department may establish an emergency rescue squad within the department and further authorize the squad to provide both emergency and general ambulance services. However, the statute creating this authorization, General Municipal Law § 209-b, prohibits any fees or charges for rendering such services. Municipal emergency medical and general ambulance services provided under other sections of law (e.g., General Municipal Law § 122-b, which governs those municipalities with paid fire departments) are not subject to such a restriction.

The Mandate: Currently, written reports generated by a police or firefighter investigation of an automobile accident are available to insurance companies at little or no charge. The Freedom of Information Law sets a maximum charge of $0.25 per page for a document that is released to a member of the public and alternatively provides that, if a requested document can be electronically provided, it must be. These insurance companies rely heavily on police and fire departments for investigative work, reporting, interviewing witnesses, etc. They also have enormous assets and generally are extremely profitable, a direct result of quick responses by police and fire departments. While municipal residents generally provide financial support for the operation of these departments through the payment of taxes, non-residents do not, yet they represent a significant percentage of drivers involved in at-fault accidents.