Ouachita Parish taxpayers – the folks who finance government – didn’t get talked about much at last night’s meeting of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury’s (OPPJ) Finance Committee. Instead, most of the talk was about the cost impact upon the jury’s employees during a discussion about a healthcare insurance provider for 2013.
The jury wound up going with the most costly (for taxpayers) option.
The 2013 plan will cost about $326 thousand (5%) more than the 2012 plan.
See here the spreadsheet and proposals.
John Pegues CEO of Coventry Health Care, the current provider and winner of the vote for 2013, made a presentation on behalf of his company.
Billy Justice of Vantage Health Plan made a competing presentation.
A lot of the discussion centered around which plan included the West Monroe, LA based Glenwood Regional Medical Center in their networks. Vantage does not include Glenwood, but Coventry does.
Jury President Shane Smiley (District E) noted that the employees had a “rich” plan, and that about 79% of the premiums were paid by the jury (taxpayers).
However, when voting time came, Smily made the motion to go with the most expensive plan, seconded by Mack Calhoun (District B). Also voting for the plan was Scotty Robinson (District A) and Ollibeth Reddix (District D).
Voting no were committee chair Walt Caldwell (District C), and Pat Moore (District F).
In other business the committee approved the budget for the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. That office’s 2013 expenditures are set to decline to about $181 thousand, from about $259 thousand for 2012.
See here the documents.
10/23/2012 at 8:55 pm |
I predict taxpayers will pay increasing attention to the rich benefit and retirement plans enjoyed by public employees, and will begin to voice resentment. This will become a controversy affecting all local government functions, so elected officials should bite the bullet,get out in front of this issue, and begin to pare back these plans, before they are forced to do it by either political pressure, fiscal pressure, or a combination one-two of both. Many employees of Fortune 500 corporations have relatively modest retirement plans, if any, and no health insurance benefits in retirement; essentially they are on their own.
10/23/2012 at 10:11 pm |
Even the voters of California are starting to rebel against ever higher taxes with no end in sight to the ever escalating costs of public employee unions. California began the property tax revolt with Proposition 13 back in 1978, and appears to be poised to repeat its leadership on resisting tax increases. The public employee unions have gotten entirely out of hand, enjoying lifetime employment, generous benefits, and pay equal or surpassing the private sector. They have none of the worries or stresses we in the private sector have constantly hanging over our heads. Things such as layoffs or cutbacks never cross their minds. We taxpayers are constantly asked for a little more to support these dedicated public servants whose narrative has been carefully constructed to portray them as less fortunate than their private-sector counterparts and thus more deserving of the meager scraps they manage to procure. However, this false narrative has been shattered under the constant scrutiny of episodes such as the Wisconsin fight to curtail the power of these public sector unions and their demands for more.