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Boardman levy backers await health-care vote
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BOARDMAN
A volunteer civic group has put its support for a police levy on hold.
Boardman Community Pride, a group of volunteers promoting the township, was expected to form the backbone of a committee for a 3.85-mill, five-year additional police levy on the May ballot.
“What has put our support on hold was the refusal of the unions to come together and let the township try to get a better deal on health-care premiums,” said George Farris, who is a communications volunteer with Boardman Community Pride.
The township health insurance committee’s next vote is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. The township has received health insurance quotes from Medical Mutual, Anthem and United Healthcare and expects to receive another option from AETNA, said township Administrator Jason Loree.
The insurance committee is not voting on a specific plan Friday; it is just voting for a design-plan change, which would allow the township to get new bids from health care providers, Loree said.
The committee has until April to reach an agreement, but trustees want a decision before March 1, because after that date the township would incur election costs for the levy.
This election could cost the township $25,000.
But Friday might be too late to start a levy campaign, said Farris, who is president of Farris Marketing, which created the successful “I Love My Library” campaign in support of levies for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
“Truthfully, it could be — but not necessarily,” he said.
Boardman Community Pride is frustrated but thinks the township is at a crossroads, Farris said.
“This whole process, it’s been truthful, even though it’s been painful. It really seems like a watershed moment,” he said, noting people are becoming aware of information.
The group, like individual township residents, faces a dilemma, Farris said.
“Our police force is shrinking, and crime is increasing. ... Criminals know we’re shorthanded, and feel they can get away with anything, so they are getting bolder,” he said.
He added the police levy would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $2 per week.
On the other side, the group wants the township to be fiscally smart, Farris said.
“Unions are not bad. Collective bargaining is not bad. But times have changed.” Farris has said he will vote for a police levy no matter what.
“Personally, I don’t care if cops don’t have to pay a deductible. I do, but I don’t have to wear a bulletproof vest to work every day like they do. In my mind they are heroes,” Farris said.
The health insurance now has a zero-deductible policy that provides 100 percent coverage, specifically for in-and-out-patient hospitalization; there is a $15 co-pay on a doctor’s office visit.
Loree said the firefighters union and the three police unions pay 10 percent of their premium, and a family plan costs about $1,881 annually. The road department union (Township Workers Association) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2498 union contribute 18 percent to their health insurance, which is about $3,387 annually for a family plan.
Loree has said the township’s goal is to get employees to pay a higher deductible. The three proposals have deductibles from $100 to $1,000.
The plan proposed by Anthem with a $500/$1,000 deductible range could save the township about $550,000 annually — the highest amount of the three, according to records.
“This is the worst-case scenario,” Loree said, meaning that if the plan-design change is accepted, the township can pit the providers against one another to get even more competitive bids.