City Council was wise to end health insurance for councilors
20 02 08 - 11:35
Mayor Donald Kasprzak and the current Common Council were elected largely on a platform of reducing unneccesary expenses and routing waste wherever it could be found. For the most part, those goals have been realized -- predictably, to the chagrin of people whose personal comforts were deflated in the process.
Kasprzak and the council knew they weren't going to be universally popular when they began rummaging through the budget to find available cuts -- not only are the victims of the cuts incensed, but frugal officials must heed that tricky balance between making prudent incisions and slicing future prospects for growth -- but the taxpayers are the beneficiaries, and they are the ones who count the most.
The mayor found one place to trim that hit close to home, if not for this council, at least for future ones.
He wants to eliminate health insurance for all city councilors, beginning now, and the council went along with him last week in a 4-2 vote, with councilors Timothy Carpenter and Michael Kelly dissenting.
Kasprzak's rationale is that if the city is going to ask the unions to be frugal in health insurance and other areas, it is only fair that the part-time councilors do the same.
None of the six councilors in office now takes the city's insurance plan, but many have in the past. (George Rabideau, R-Ward 3, is covered under the city's plan, but as a retired police officer, not as a councilor.)
Councilors earn $10,000 per year for their efforts.
The self-funded traditional Blue coverage annually costs $18,270 for family coverage and $7,639 for single. The HMO plans run annually from a low of $6,401 for single coverage to a high of $18,200 for family coverage, depending on the plan choice.
The city offers buy-out options for employees, which range from $1,500 to $3,000 annually depending on the union contract or employee group they are in. About 16 employees are taking the buy-out option this year. There is no buy-out option for councilors.
Councilors who would take the city's health-insurance plan would have been required to pay 50 percent of the premium cost from their councilor's salary.
Common Council members presumably run because of their abiding concern for the city. That is one reason for the pay being so modest. It was never intended to be the attraction for aspiring councilors. In fact, you could argue that the city's interests would be hindered by electing councilors who ran mainly for the benefits involved.
Kasprzak's motives are clear: health-insurance costs, at about $6 million per year, are killing the city. The union members contribute only $250,000 toward that staggering cost. The mayor has made it very clear that he wants the unions to pay more toward this burgeoning cost.
Now the council is on record favoring that spirit of sacrifice.