I don’t like to throw rocks at the local newspaper but recently it’s hard not to. First they blew the story about the foot patrols in GTS and the story that they currently have posted about the pay plan isn’t even an honest attempt to communicate the story. It does a great job of riling people up and driving more people to their website but journalism it ain’t. You know what the headline about that meeting should have been?
EMPLOYEES PROPOSE TO SAVE CITY $1 MILLION WITH NEW INSURANCE
That’s right. The Council charged the Manager with reducing benefit expenditures last year. He put together a committee who plowed through 8 proposals and found a way to save the City a ton of money. That’s $1 million in operating funds too. That’s big.
Now, like any good manager, the City Manager is keenly aware that you only save on direct insurance costs by making the insured pay more in one fashion or another. The new coverage makes employees more likely to hit the annual maximum out-of-pocket expense. He attempted to offset this in the short term by giving a small raise (which we haven’t given in several years) and a 1 time bonus. He called it a wellness bonus as that was the intent but, as the MJM goes to great length to point out, it can be used for anything. Does the name seem a bit silly upon further review? Yes but the intent is still ok.
So, even after giving a raise the General Fund will still see savings of about $400,000 in FY12. The costs for the 1 time bonus come out of salary savings (hiring freeze) in this fiscal year (FY11). Overall, I think that’s something to be proud of.
Here’s the best document that goes over the proposal.
Here’s the longer document that goes through all of it.
March 11, 2011 at 4:04 pm
“Wellness” is a great word….in my world of Health, Aging & Disability there is the “Wellness Continuum” ranging from bad to great. Given that “wellness” includes mental & physical well-being, and given our employees have really busted their tushes over the last year (all our Snowzillas in particular), giving them a small bonus after not getting a pay raise for a couple of years to me struck me as a good example of taking care of your people. Sort of like when the Feds gave everyone either $300 or $600 a couple of years back. And nothing wrong with Larry saying it could be spent on anything – even going and “buying a boat” can contribute to “Wellness”.
It was a good vote though to seperate wellness (one time payment) and the two studies out. To me, that way the benefits package can be looked at more closely, especially since the two studies fall into “common sense” category for me.
Granted, given the total, I would argue putting back in some entry level positions. But the long term costs of those FTEs outway a one-time bonus. I believe it is just bad wording in the explanation of what it is – if the Council first had been given an explanation of the Wellness Continuum, maybe the choice of wording as quoted instead of negative, could have been positive.
As for the Insurance – and what government or business (large or small) is not looking over what is the best bang for the buck? Yes, people may pay more out of pocket (which is happening in many places), but this is also a fact of life coming down in the Affordable Care Act. Just take the point dependents up to age 25 can be covered – somewhere costs have to be recouped, and many companies are seeing the out-of-pocket is where Insurance Companies are doing it.
March 11, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Ray:
Did the linked docs work for you? I had those scanned b/c you had asked and just wanted to make sure they are opening up!
March 12, 2011 at 7:43 am
Andy, your links worked great. My suggestion for posting the docs is mostly for those who cannot make the meeting, but know you make the effort to post docs. I was there Wednesday night arriving in time for DFS and PRTC presentations since they were of interest to me. Lots of handouts on the Benefits Package were laying in a chair outside the door. Most of the seats were filled by DFS employees and about two citizens….when it came time for PRTC, I was the only one left in the seats.
Amusing moment though – the Mayor when announcing the Parade today wistfully said he would like to buzz the City in a plane. I suggested buzzing the parade while dropping out marshmellow shamrocks! He seemed to enjoy the suggestion 🙂 He told me his Dad had once buzzed the town in a P-38 – now that is one cool plane!!!
March 12, 2011 at 8:43 am
Its a shame our local paper can’t cover ANYTHING local with any sort of journalistic impartiality. There’s an editorial slant on seemingly every article they publish.
March 14, 2011 at 2:01 pm
I have always refused to read the Journal Messenger, not due to any partiality on the part of the paper, but due to the fact that it is written on a less-than-second-grade level and there are always spelling/grammatical errors that could have been caught if they actually proofread any of their work. Take the story of the two Osbourn students who were robbed a couple of weeks ago. The paper published the article stating ‘the second attacker’ instead of ‘the second victim’.
As to the point of the article, the insurance……my previous employer also had a ‘wellness’ bonus. But it entailed multiple doctor’s visits (general, dentist, and optometrist) and having my employer’s forms signed, notarized, and returned to the employer in order to receive the bonus. On these forms, you had to provide information as to whether you were on medications for colesterol, as well as their need to know if you were taking birth control pills or viagra. Also, if your BMI was over a preset tolerance, you would not get the bonus. At 5′ 4-1/2″ and 140 pounds, I exceeded it. All of it just seemed like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
March 19, 2011 at 10:53 pm
I’m embarrassed for the city. The members from the “employee committee” that I have spoken to actually stated that they begged to keep their proper health-care. The “employee’s proposal” was basically a choice, forced upon them, between the lesser of two (or more) evils, and did not allow an option for city employees to maintain a decent (current) standard of insurance. People take jobs in Gov’t for the benefits, generally, not the pay. If this is the route the city intends to take, then a “one-time bonus” is hardly helpful if the employee, their spouse, or their children need procedures for simply tearing some ligaments and tendons in a knee during a softball game, or during a fall from a bicycle. I suppose they should all sit quietly and carefully on the couch and avoid any activity… can’t afford the deductibles if anything should happen.