Budget won’t allow non-union employee raises

MARENGO — County Engineer Nick Amelon took a shot at convincing Iowa County Supervisors to let him rearrange his budget to give raises to his non-union staff.

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Supervisors weren’t convinced.

The Board of Supervisors concluded last week that it can’t give non-union employees pay increases without raising the tax levy more than it would like. (Union employees receive raises based on negotiated contracts.)

“We can rework our budget to find that money for our office,” said Amelon.

The secondary roads department can save $80,000 in its budget by not insisting on matching trucks, Amelon said. He’s budgeted $200,000 for new pickups, but he said he can cut that price by $80,000 by not buying red ones.

In the past, the county has insisted on matching trucks, said Amelon, though Supervisors currently on the board said they’d rather save money than have matching trucks.

All departments need to be finding things like that to save money for the county, said Supervisor Seth Meyer.

Inflation rose above 3% this year, that affects everyone, said Amelon. It affects non-union employees.

Amelon has 32 union employees who will receive raises as negotiated by the union. He’d like to give raises to his other four employees as well, he said.

But giving all non-union employees in the county raises would cost $380,000, said Supervisor Abby Maas.

“I get it,” said Maas. “Zero percent raises are not fun to give out.” But she won’t raise taxes 12% to pay for them. “I’d rather give people health insurance, she said.

Health insurance costs rose 13.5% for the county for next year, said Supervisor Jon Degen.

That costs the county $200,000 a month, according to Maas. “Do you want health insurance or do you want a raise?”

Supervisors have found ways to cut some money from the fiscal year 2025-26 budget, said Maas. That will keep the tax levy increase to a minimum, but it won’t allow the county to give raises to non-union employees.

Amelon asked supervisors to consider giving more vacation time if it can’t give raises.

Supervisors weren’t inclined to consider that option either. Vacation days cost the county money, said Maas. They aren’t free.

Degen said he’d be willing to talk about adding a personal day.

Insurance

The rise in the cost of insurance was caused by the fact that the county employees have used it, said Maas.

Insurance claims have gone up by 22.29%, about a half a million dollars, Maas said.

Most employees were on the national plan three years ago, but that meant insurance paid at a national rate, even for providers in state, said Maas.

The county made a state network policy free to employees, and eventually most of them enrolled in that plan, which saves the county money, Maas said.

In 2022, 82 county employees were on the national network, 40 had the plan with a $750 deductible, and four had the $1500 deductible, Maas said.

The county wanted more employees to take the plan with the $1500 deductible, so the county paid 100% of those premiums.

Employees who choose plans with lower deductibles pay the difference in premium.

Supervisors need to communicate to employees that a raise in health insurance premiums is a raise to the employees. Raises aren’t just wages, Maas said. The county is picking up the increased cost of insurance as well.

In the past, the biggest driver of insurance cost has been prescriptions, said Maas, but this year inpatient care was the largest cost. Inpatient claims rose by 283%, Maas said.

Only 32% of claims are for county employees. The other claims were for their spouses and children, said Maas.

The county is seeing a trend toward family plans as opposed to individual plans. Those family plans cover an average of 3.1 people per policy.

The increase in claims was driven by 20% of employees, said Maas, which is typical. Most employees — 79.9% --- had fewer than $5,000 in claims, and 7.3% of enrolled employees had no claims at all.

That’s not a good thing, said Degen. It means the employees aren’t getting preventive care, not even their paid physicals.

Compass Memorial Healthcare is becoming the top facility for county employees, and the top 10 family practitioners are more often out of Compass, Maas said.

Supervisors don’t plan to change insurance benefits for this budget, they said, but they may need to offer a plan with a higher deductible next year to cut costs.