Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise that several southern Albany County towns have or are considering tax exemptions to attract more first responders. Knox has already granted a 10-percent tax exemption for first responders, while several other towns are holding public hearings to consider tax breaks their for emergency personnel. "In the Hilltowns, ambulance services have shut down in recent years due to flagging numbers, and the remaining one, Helderberg Ambulance, has turned to the State University of New York system to attract student-recruits with the promise of a $5,000 scholarship per semester per student," Zweifel writes. Rensselaerville holds a public hearing on the matter at its town board meeting at 6:45 p.m., on March 23 at the town hall. The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education holds a public hearing about this at 7 p.m., on March 27 in the elementary school cafeteria. Westerlo’s public hearing is at 6 p.m., April 4 at the town hall. And Berne will have the matter on the agenda for their April 12 meeting at 7 p.m. at the Berne Community and Senior Center. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.