Besides the nice fat salary raises Ryan Ward is salivating over during radio interviews, the BENEFITS side (which Finley and Ryan NEVER mention) is skyrocketing: up 13% for City employee health insurance premiums.
Ouch. But don’t worry, the taxpayer picks up most of that as well.
Everywhere I looked, I saw estimates of a 6% to 6.5% increase in premiums for 2024….
[Bidenomics! Weird – the dems keep telling us inflation is only 3%.]
Many City Hall Big Wigs have plans that cost the City $1,548 per month! But they only pay $438 of that! Person in real world = $560 per month. City Hall Big Wig = $1,548 per month and taxpayer pays $1,100 of that. Quite generous!!
So if 6% to 6.5% is the real number, why is the City of Lampasas getting creamed for a 13% hike? Good question.
Could it be that they are too lazy to shop around for a better deal? Kind of like the garbage contract??
They sure don’t want to lose their gold-plated Baylor Scott & White plans – those are basically the best (your) money can buy! Sitting down and doing the bitch work of contacting 5 or 6 different companies to find a better rate sounds like a task that belongs to Assistant City Manager Ryan Ward. Unfortunately, he is too busy dicking around with the new $40,000 payroll software to bother with that, I bet.
How did this all get so out of control? Well, some of it has to do with terrible decisions made back in 2013 and 2014 when moron City council members like Wanda Bierschwale decided the City taxpayers should help pick up the tabs of employee dependents AND RETIREES!
Yes, those retirees who ALREADY were paid highly for decades and had 2-1 matching for their retirement also STILL get a subsidy for their health care premiums. Think Sammy Bailey.
Here is the discussion from 2013 and 2014:
July 8, 2013 council packet – City personnel salaries – Proposing a three percent (3%) global increase which would be $117,000 budget impact. The new health premiums increased three percent (3%)and would like to budget $71,000 to assist employees with 25 percent (25%) of dependent premiums. [the CPI that year was about 1.5%]
July 25th, 2014 council packet – Initial budget assumptions call for a 4 percent increase in total salary expenses, although deGraffenried said that does not necessarily mean an across the-board 4 percent raise is suggested. In the budget approved last year, total salaries increased 3 percent. Mayor Pro Tem Wanda Bierschwale said she would like to see employees get “a goodly raise” and for the city to pay a portion of retiree health care costs. Mrs. Bierschwale also said she would like to increase the dependent cost share. White said he supports a 50 percent health care cost share for retireesand a 4 percent raise for all employees. Councilman Chuck Williamson also said he favors 4 percent raises. [CPI that year was about 1.6%]
Biershwale and White were certainly generous with taxpayer funds back in 2014! Those changes were forever – and it will bite them in the ass going forward, as it is this year.
But don’t worry! Finley has a big money tree behind City Hall. Nobody who pushes paper in their air-conditioned office will have to worry about paying full price for their $1,548-per-month health insurance!