Toward the end of July, the county’s health trust fund had about $260,000 in it to pay medical bills for the rest of the year.
Auditor Beth Mulry doesn’t know if that’s going to be enough.
She told the Brown County Commissioners on July 19 that by her calculations, the county needs $220,000 of that money to pay administration fees for the rest of the year.
The commissioners had been talking about providing county employees with short-term disability insurance, in addition to the benefits they already have.
“Essentially, you don’t have enough money to pay the admin fees and claims, which obviously we have to pay the claims, so something pretty substantial needs to take place sooner rather than later to make sure we can pay the bills,” Mulry said.
“We can’t go negative. If that fund hits zero, we stop paying bills.”
Biddle said that the bills coming in are smaller and don’t meet a $50,000 reinsurance threshold.
The fund had $35,000 in it as of Jan. 1. She said the county has put $1.3 million into it from the county’s budget, reinsurance, refunds, and people writing checks for the fund. The county has spent almost $1.1 million of that money, she said.
“Essentially, what I am saying, your budget, you need to tighten the belt, because we’re going to have strip it again this year. We’re going to have to look for money. … We’re not going to make it through the year,” Mulry said.
Biddle suggested going before the Brown County Council to ask for an additional appropriation out of the county’s rainy day fund.
Mulry said the county has already spent about $800,000 in health insurance claims this year. “That’s more than $100,000 a month. We are paying the bills,” she said.
Mulry suggested the commissioners delay any projects that aren’t critical to protect the county’s rainy day fund, which is like an emergency fund. “If you really think about it, we have about a $17 million overall county budget. Rainy day is sitting at $1.7 million; $270,000 of that has been budgeted. We don’t even have (a) 10 percent (cushion in) rainy day.”
Resident Sherrie Mitchell asked if the commissioners could find a way to bring health insurance costs down. The county brings in about $1.6 million in income tax revenue, she said.
“You’re spending almost $2 million on employee insurance? How does that benefit any citizen of this county, when every dollar we send you goes to pay for employee benefits?” Mitchell asked.
Biddle said the county is required by law to provide health insurance.
“You really, really need to take a long, hard look at this,” Mitchell said.
Commissioner Jerry Pittman said the commissioners have considered all options about health insurance. “It is an expensive issue,” he said.
He said in order to keep “competent people” working for the county, they have to offer benefits and pay packages that are comparable to counties of similar size. A recent salary study showed Brown County ranking near the top in pay and benefits when compared to other-like size counties.
Mitchell said county employees in nearby larger counties get paid more because they work harder, dealing with larger county populations.
Mulry said county employees in smaller counties are required to know how to do multiple tasks within an office, since there are not as many employees. “It’s extremely different. … There’s a lot of challenges that face us,” she said.
Commissioner Dave Anderson said the county is having difficulties “keeping quality help here.”
Sheriff Scott Southerland said the issue is “more complex” than comparing Brown County to five like-size counties around the state, because that’s not who the county is competing against to keep employees. “We’re competing with the ones around us,” he said.
The cost of living also factors into employees’ decisions to leave, Southerland said.
“We have a guy looking to move to Johnson County. He can get a house that would cost him $200,000 here. It would probably cost him $150,000 in Johnson County. He can live cheaper up there and make maybe $10,000 more. That’s who we’re competing with,” he said.
Pittman said he appreciated the input from the audience. “We do have to control our costs, and we will. We do have to live within our budget,” he said.
