Logan County Board Workshop Meeting
Board Discusses Insurance for Non-Union Employees
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[September 14, 2024]
On
the evening of September 12th, the Logan County Board met for their
monthly Workshop meeting, where they prepare for the following
week’s Regular Board meeting. One of the subjects discussed at this
meeting was paying for insurance for all non-union employees. Union
employees’ insurance is covered by the contract they have with the
county, but non-union employees are subject to the board’s decisions
in this regard.
Since at least August, the board has been debating on whether to
start paying all of the insurance for individual employees. The
employees would be responsible for the cost of any dependents or
spouses added to their insurance plans. It was decided at the
Workshop meeting in August that this item would be sent back to
committee until the employees could be talked to. The board wanted
to make sure that this insurance plan was something the employees
would want.
At the time for public comments, Lisa Bobb, a non-union employee,
stood up and asked the board if now would be a good time to address
some of her concerns regarding insurance. Board member Dale Nelson
suggested Bobb wait until they get to the Finance Committee portion
of the meeting. Nelson also clarified that the intent of making a
motion to pay for the individual health insurance of all non-union
employees was never to replace any raise that might be decided on
once next year’s budget is created.
Once the board got to the Finance Committee's motions, the issue of
insurance was once again brought up. Nelson again explained that the
intent of this motion was not to replace a potential salary
increase. He also clarified that non-union employees would have to
“take it or leave it.” They would not be able to turn down the
insurance but collect the amount the board would have spent on that
insurance in cash.
Board member Michael DeRoss shared his dislike for
providing completely free insurance. DeRoss stated his reasoning
behind this is that, when insurance is free, it removes any
“rationing device.” He further stated that he would prefer there to
be at least a small charge on the employee. He likened his point to
receiving a free dinner. If given the choice between a steak or a
hamburger, he stated people would choose the steak if they knew they
would not be required to pay for it. Nelson responded to this by
stating that Penny Thomas, the Logan County Treasurer, made an
estimate that providing free individual health insurance to
non-union employees would cost about $60,000 annually. Nelson shared
that Thomas told him $60,000 was estimated for DeRoss’s exact
scenario, if everyone took the highest cost plan.
Board member Bob Sanders also shared his concern with agreeing to
pay completely for employee insurance. His reasoning for this was
that insurance costs can rise. “Next year it could double,” Sanders
said. He suggested a scale of sorts where people on the top end
would contribute a small amount to their insurance and the people on
the bottom end would have their insurance completely covered. This
suggestion was “just food for thought.”
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Board member Kathy Schmidt then
chimed in, sharing that her husband works with insurance for a
living. She further shared that he has told her that all the
municipalities he works with across the country pay 100 percent
of their employees’ insurance. He was surprised to discover that
Logan County did not. DeRoss countered by stating that the city
of Chicago did not do this, to which Schmidt told him her
husband only works with smaller communities similar to Logan
County.
Board member Hannah Fitzpatrick then spoke up, stating a concern
that she had. She stated that sometimes, if someone is on their
spouse’s insurance but they then get offered free health
insurance through their own work, their spouse’s insurance
forces them to take the free health insurance. Fitzpatrick
stated that she knows State Farm does this for sure.
Nelson then suggested sending the motion back to committee and
talking to their insurance liaison to ask some of these
questions before proceeding any further with it. Board member
Keenan Leesman agreed with Nelson’s suggestion, stating more
information was likely needed.
Before moving on, Nelson addressed the employees in
attendance and asked if they still wanted to say something regarding
the insurance topic. Bobb stood up again, electing to share some of
her thoughts and concerns. She stated that when she started working
at the courthouse in 2008, her insurance was fully covered. Bobb
then shared that she and some of her other coworkers were discussing
the matter, and they believe that 2011 was the year that “the gate
kind of started to creep a little open,” and the employees were
asked to start covering a small amount of the cost of insurance. She
further stated that every year since then, the insurance cost has
been going up and has not been well above what their salary
increases were, if there was one that year.
Bobb continued, saying she always remembers hearing that the board
does not have enough money for non-union employees. “We always hear
that, when it’s time for the budget to get settled, that there’s no
money for the non-union employees. That is what I’ve heard every
year for sixteen years.” Bobb then asked where the board is going to
get that money if they have never had it before. Bobb stated that
she has more questions, but she is going to save them for the
emergency Finance Committee meeting next week Wednesday, September
18th, at 5:45 p.m. The meeting will take place in the Blue Room,
which is in the basement of the Logan County Safety Complex.
[Matt Boutcher]
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