Oneida County legislators might forgo health benefits
The Oneida County Board of Legislators might give up one of its long-cherished benefits in 2012.
The board’s Ways and Means Committee approved a measure Wednesday that would eliminate the legislators’ option to get the same health insurance benefits as full-time county employees.
“I am going with the wishes of my constituents,” said legislator Emil Paparella, R-Utica. “I understand that times are changing and most private part-time positions don’t have these benefits. Everybody has to share the pain.”
The measure came in the form of an amendment to Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente’s proposed 2012 budget, which the board will vote on Wednesday.
The amendment will have to be approved separately by the board in order to be included in the budget document.
Paparella, who takes the insurance option, is on the 11-member committee, which approved the measure by a 10 to 1 vote. Legislator Rose Ann Convertino, D-Utica, was the sole no vote.
The 29 legislators are considered part-time. Most receive a yearly salary of $8,368, though the board’s Democratic and Republican party leaders, along with the board chairman, get more.
There are several other part-time county employees, including the coroners and some attorneys, who also get the benefit. That, too, would be eliminated, for a savings of $298,387.
ä Eleven sitting legislators opt to take the benefit, at a cost to the county of $198,370.
ä Legislators who do not take the benefit get a stipend, which also would be eliminated at a savings of $9,300.
ä The savings on the attorneys’ and coroners’ insurance total $90,717.
Those employees pay 20 percent of the cost of their insurance and the county picks up the rest.
The savings won’t be felt in the 2012 budget because the money is being put into a contingency fund while the change goes through a longer required process. It will, however, save taxpayer dollars in 2013.
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The board's Ways and Means Committee approved a measure Wednesday that would eliminate the legislators' option to get the same health insurance benefits as full-time county employees. “I am going with the wishes of my constituents,” said legislator
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