H. Rose Schneider reports in The Altamont Enterprise that taxes won't rise next year in Berne, though the full 2019 budget is $89,000 more than this year. To keep from raising taxes, Supervisor Sean Lyons is taking $368,000 from the town’s fund balance and about $50,000 in reserve accounts. Paying for the county ambulance service, though, was a sticking point during budget discussions of the $2.9 million budget for the southern Albany County town. Costs are up for the Berne Fire District, and garbage and recycling services. There was also much confusion about how much, and when, the town would be charged for ambulance service. Beginning last year, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office began charging Berne, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville for basic life support from the sheriff’s emergency medical services division after Rensselaerville’s volunteer ambulance closed last summer. Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.