By ROGER H. AYLWORTH-Staff Writer
Posted: 03/05/2009 09:35:57 PM PST
OROVILLE — In an unusual move, the Butte County Grand Jury released a mid-term report Thursday that chides the county for spending too much on health insurance for its retired employees.
The report says the county offers retirees a benefits package that allows the individual to use accumulated sick time to pay for continuing medical insurance. Active employees are required to pay a percentage of their health care premiums, but for retirees who participate in this program, the county pays the entire bill.
The employees must meet age, time-employed, and sick time accrued requirements to qualify for the extended medial insurance program.
Based on figures from the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the Grand Jury claimed it cost the county roughly $1 million to provide fully-paid medical insurance for 120 retired employees over one year.
The Grand Jury noted, "the health insurance benefits to retired employees appeared generous and very expensive to the county."
All of the contracts with the county's nine bargaining units expired last September and are currently being renegotiated.
Laura Brunson, Butte County director of human resources, and Rudy Jenkins, who heads up the Butte County Employees Association, both told the Enterprise-Record Thursday the retiree health care benefits are neither new, nor out of line with other counties.
Brunson described the county retiree benefits a "nice package," said most public entities have something similar.
Jenkins said any
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suggestion the health care option was extravagant, was "baloney."
He said the current package, which he said had been part of county contracts for at least 20 years, rewards employees for not using sick time.
Jenkins explained the retiring employee has the option to use the accumulated sick time to expand his or her length of service, or the individual can cash it out to a maximum of $3,000, or he or she can use it to pay for extended medical insurance.
Jenkins claimed this sort of an approach is not unusual and pointed to Glenn County, which he said gives employees with 20 years of service fully paid health insurance when they retire.
The Grand Jury report questions whether the 12 counties Butte County uses as comparables to establish compensation and other benefits are realistic.
The 12 counties on the list include Stanislaus, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Merced, Sonoma, Napa, Sacramento, Shasta, Sutter, Placer, Solano, and El Dorado. The report suggested these counties are not similar to Butte County in terms of cost of living.
Jenkins, said the 12 counties are "fairly reasonable" for comparison.
The report says the county should continue to provide current retirees with these benefits, but urges that new agreements set a fixed amount the county will pay for retiree health insurance, and that the retired individual should pay any premium cost about the county's share.
Jenkins said, since he came to the county in 2000, retiree health benefits have not been renegotiated. He would not speculate on whether union members would accept the Grand Jury proposal.
However, he described the reports complaints as "just somebody's perspective."
This report is unusual because the Grand Jury usually issues a single report in July that covers all the reviews done during its one-year session.
Staff writer Roger H. Aylworth can be reached at 896-7762 or raylworth@chicoer.com.
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11848888
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