ONEONTA _ Retirees and the last remaining elected official participating in city health insurance plans have until the end of the year to apply for a one-time buyout.
The Common Council voted Tuesday to offer the optional cash buyout to about 100 people who have one of two health plans. The measure, which passed unanimously, involves one-time cash payments in exchange for permanent exit from the plans.
Former Mayor Kim Muller is one of those being eyed for a buyout.
The city budgeted $1.1 million for retiree and elected official health insurance plans in 2010. The plans have about 100 participants.
The cash payments equate to the annual premium paid on an individual policy, Personnel Director Kathy Wolverton said.
Under the City of Oneonta Group Health Insurance Program, the buyout will be $7,365 for single coverage, $13,940 for two-person coverage and $16,960 for family coverage.
Under the City of Oneonta Medicare Supplemental Insurance, the buyout will be $5,460 for single coverage and $10,920 for two-person coverage.
"For the city, we could save a lot of money because someone would be on there for 10 years, 20 years," Eighth Ward Alderman Kevin Hodne said.
It is not known how many would take advantage of the buyout.
When buyouts were last offered in 2006, no one took them. Three people took them in 2003, Wolverton said.
The only former elected official still participating is Muller, who was mayor from 1998 to 2006.
Mayor Dick Miller said Muller had recently taken a new job and said he was not sure if she would take the buyout.
The Common Council voted to bar future elected officials from participating in 1999 and that year also required current participants to contribute 20 percent of the premium.
None of the seven sitting aldermen are eligible. Miller and former Mayor John Nader are also ineligible.
Fourth Ward Alderman Mike Lynch said the council should look to see if it can take the benefit away from Muller if she does not opt for the buyout.
"This is a benefit that is way out of proportion to the amount of compensation she was receiving as mayor," Fourth Ward Alderman Mike Lynch said.
But Miller said he did not know if that would be possible.
"I don't know that we can legally take it away from her," Miller said.
The city should also prevent pre-1999 elected officials who are eligible for -- but do not currently receive -- health benefits from getting them, Lynch said.
Wolverton said it was not clear if a pre-1999 elected official could successfully get the benefit if they had not been getting it all along. A former alderman attempted it a few years ago and was denied by the city's insurance company, she said.
Muller said Tuesday night she would have to see the measure passed by the Common Council in order to make a decision on whether she would accept a buyout.
In her case, it would be $16,960.
Muller recently left her state job in the Grants Development Office at the State University College at Oneonta and began working last week as director of the Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training located at SUNY Oneonta, which works on migrant education and related issues and falls under the purview of the Research Foundation of SUNY.
"I have been very careful to make sure that my daughters and I are protected," Muller said Tuesday night.
Muller said she understands the city's situation and its desire to cut costs in the face of annual budget deficits. The move toward ending elected official participation and requiring contributions and previous buyouts happened during her administration.
"I am the one that instituted a contribution toward health insurance," Muller said. "I certainly understood the issue with the cost."
Muller said her positions on the contributions led to rocky relationships with the city's unions.
"I got a lot of grief going into my second term," she said.
Local News
Oneonta to offer insurance buyout to retirees, ex-mayor
- Local News
-
-
Memorial Day hits home for local hamlet
CSSB0B0.jpg
BURLINGTON FLATS -- As memories of past wars become more distant, the significance of Memorial Day has faded for many people. For them, the holiday has become a sort of welcoming party for the oncoming summer season, a time to have a picnic or go to the lake.
-
On the Bright Side: Area girl becomes fourth sister named Dairy Princess
A family tradition continued Friday with the crowning of the Delaware County Dairy Princess.
-
Police: Student made gun threat in Walton
Two adults were arrested Wednesday following an investigation of a student threat about an upcoming incident at Walton Central School, Walton police said. There was never any immediate danger at the school, Superintendent Thomas Austin aid.
-
SPCA's costs for seized dogs grow
COOPERSTOWN -- The Susquehanna SPCA has racked up more than $80,000 in expenses from caring for the dozens of dogs seized last winter from a Worcester dog dealer, according to the head of the local humane agency.
-
Two Oneonta women busted after traffic stop
Two Oneonta women were arrested May 17, one on possession of crack cocaine, following a traffic stop on I-88 in Worcester.
-
Man arrested after 2-month drug investigation
A Bronx man was arrested Thursday following a two-month investigation by Otsego deputies and Oneonta police.
-
C'town All-Star Village to open this summer
A court ruling issued Friday means that an Oneonta baseball camp can focus on having a successful season, Cooperstown All-Star Village President Martin Patton said.
-
Memorial Day hours
-
Saying goodbye hurts most when the experience has been worthwhile
This is my last Reporter's Notebook column for The Daily Star.
-
Memorial Day events: Chenango County
Memorial Day events for Chenango County
-
Memorial Day events: Delaware County
Memorial Day events for Delaware County
-
Memorial Day events: Otsego County
Memorial Day events for Otsego County
- Friday, May 25, 2012
-
2 retired Salvation Army majors honored with Oneonta luncheon
Two recently retired Salvation Army majors were feted with a luncheon Thursday.
-
Study: Area unemployment holds steady
The number of private sector jobs in New York is at an all-time high, according to the state Labor Department, which also recently reported steady unemployment at 8.1 percent statewide in April.
-
Truck overturns on I-88
A tractor-trailer carrying watermelons overturned on Interstate 88 on Thursday morning, resulting in a closure of the highway in the city of Oneonta.
-
Two school districts look for ways to pass budgets
Two area schools with budgets defeated in May 15 voting are at different stages in their plans to bring the issue back to voters June 19.
-
Hartwick students to be honored this weekend
Hartwick College will celebrate its 81st commencement at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
-
DEP opens additional reservoir space for boating
DEP officials participated in ceremonies this week at the Neversink, Pepacton and Schoharie reservoirs to mark the addition of more than 12,500 acres of recreational boating space in those reservoirs.
-
Stamford man sentenced on sexual abuse charges
A Stamford man pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse in Delaware County Court on Monday. Damien Falconio, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison on each count, to be served concurrently, and eight years’ post-release supervision.
- Thursday, May 24, 2012
-
3 local museums to offer free admission to military
Three local institutions are participating in Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums nationwide that offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
-
