Schools treasurer: New health-care plan saves $500K

By JORDAN COHEN

news@vindy.com

NILES

Niles City Schools, in state-declared in fiscal emergency since February, will save at least $500,000 in employee health-care costs over the next eight months, according to the district treasurer.

“I would say $500,000 [in savings] is conservative,” Treasurer Lori Hudzik told reporters after a brief special meeting Wednesday in which the board of education approved a switch in health-care providers from Anthem Inc. to Aetna. The savings could be “as high as $1 million in a year,” Hudzik said.

She emphasized the latter amount is an estimate and subject to change.

The Financial Planning and Supervision Commission required to oversee district spending for the duration of fiscal emergency is not scheduled to meet again until May 6. Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen said the board was not in a position to wait that long, however.

“The insurance agreement was due to expire at the end of this month,” she said. “Timing is difficult.”

The district will pay Aetna $3.94 million for coverage from May 1 through the end of this year, with a review of costs likely at the start of 2020.

Thigpen also praised the district’s two employee bargaining units – the Niles Education Association and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees – for agreeing to what she described as “major concessions” in pending contracts.

The board, however, had to table votes on three-year contracts with both because the commission and state-appointed fiscal supervisors will have to review the agreements and their impact on the district’s budget.

Thigpen said there are no pay increases in either agreement.

Hudzik said the new health-care plan contains more options that will add to cost savings including a “high-deductible plan” that she expects many of the employees will prefer.

“Fifty-three percent of our members do not use our health-care plan,” she said.

State Auditor Keith Faber placed Niles schools in fiscal emergency after audits projected deficits from $578,000 the current fiscal year to $2.34 million by 2021.

Voter approval of a 5.6-mill renewal levy on the May 7 primary-election ballot would generate $1.3 million for the financially troubled district.