Columbus County taxpayers provide commissioners with annual salaries exceeding $12,000 per year and pay 100-percent of many of the commissioners’ individual health coverage through the county’s group health plan at about $500 per individual per month.

Commissioners last week decided that spending more than $300,000 a year – including all other budgeted costs – on themselves wasn’t enough.

Without discussion or any public comment, county commissioners voted 7-0 to approve a 153-page policy manual that includes extended healthcare coverage benefits to commissioners after they resign or even have been voted off the board.

The policy covers commissioners currently serving on the board and those serving thereafter. After serving one four-year term ,commissioners will be eligible for health benefits until age 65.

The new policy, described by one commissioner as “a grand idea,” and “a token of appreciation,” will have county taxes pay half of the cost for one-term commissioners, 75-percent for two-term commissioners and 100-percent of the cost for three-term commissioners.

Based on the continued rise in healthcare insurance premiums, this move will have taxpayers paying thousands of dollars a year for commissioners’ healthcare.

Two will benefit

Two commissioners – both leaving the board during the first meeting in December, one by choice and the second because of election results – will be the first to benefit from the policy. The county will pay half of resigning Chairman Kip Godwin’s health insurance premiums for the next 25 years, if Godwin, 40, elects to continue coverage.

According to a 2006 salary and benefits survey conducted by the N.C. Institute of Government, the county’s premium cost per individual was $494.36 per month – without an annual rise in costs. At the present rate of $2,966.16 a year, the county’s share would total more than $74,000 by the time Godwin – recently named North Carolina’s outstanding county commissioner – reached age 65.

The county will pay 100-percent of Commissioner David Dutton’s health insurance premium for the next 11 years, if the 54-year-old Dutton elects to continue coverage. At the full cost of $5,932.32 a year, the county’s total cost would be more than $65,000 by the time Dutton reaches 65.

Dutton lost his bid in the spring for a fourth term.

The county’s costs for Godwin and Dutton do not take into account any increase in the monthly insurance premiums.

Commissioners James Prevatte and Bill Memory, who say they’re not included in the current healthcare benefits, said they “overlooked” the provision in the manual that was delivered to them weeks before they voted.

Other counties

“Um, (pause) I don’t take insurance and didn’t pay any attention to it,” Memory said. “That sounds terrible, I know.” Memory went on to explain that several surrounding counties have similar policies and that this idea has been “kicked around for two to three years.

“I don’t really have a comment. I wasn’t one of the people who worked on that policy,” Prevatte said. “I do not receive insurance. I must have overlooked that one section,” he said, admitting he received a copy three weeks ago. “It was so big I read it in parts; I may have missed that.”

During the interview Prevatte declared: “You are trying to trap me into saying something.”

Commissioner Sammie Jacobs, who has served more than three terms and was first elected in 1992, said he knew the continuation of coverage was in the policy manual. “Other counties do some of the same thing – so no comment.”

“I agree with it, I think it is a grand idea,” said McKenzie, who does not take health coverage from the county. “Myself personally, it doesn’t affect me.

“For those who have taken time out of their lives, I think it’s a small token of our appreciation. I feel my constituents will feel the same way.” McKenzie mentioned that the president of the United States receives benefits but quickly clarified that the board doesn’t compare themselves to the president. He described the job of a commissioner as a lot of work and tireless hours. “Medical coverage is a great expense; those who represent the county should be given that benefit.”

Unknown cost

When asked what it would cost the county, McKenzie said it was hard to say. “No one has put a figure on it,” he said, adding that the turnover of commissioners is not that rapid. “We discussed this to some degree. We never talked the figures.”

Godwin, who worked on the personnel policy committee with commissioners Amon McKenzie and Sammie Jacobs, defended the action. “There is a whole lot more to the job of a county commissioner,” Godwin said. “We do not receive retirement or 401K contributions like other employees,” he said.

“It passed unanimously without debate and all commissioners were provided a copy,” Godwin pointed out, adding that copies were hand delivered “at least by the last week of August.”

When asked how much medical insurance costs the county per employee, Godwin replied “I’m not sure –roughly between $400 and $500 per month per employee.” When asked how much it would cost the county in five to 10 years, Godwin was again unsure. “No formal studies were done. It only applies to the commissioners now. It doesn’t go back to previous boards.

“It’s a fairly minor cost to the county in the overall grand scheme of things,” the chairman added.

When asked if he thought the way in which the benefit passed was sneaky, Godwin said no. “I would not even categorize it that way, it was a personnel policy decision,” he said, adding that it did not require a separate vote. “We did feel that it was appropriate.”

Ducks question

“We were told other counties have similar policies,” Godwin explained, adding that the policy manual was based on a model from New Hanover County. When asked if New Hanover had a better economic situation than Columbus County, Godwin said, “I’m not that familiar with what their economics are.”

The New Hanover County policy is far more conservative than the new Columbus County policy. New Hanover commissioners who are elected and serve one term are allowed to remain on the group plan provided they pay 100-percent of the cost of coverage. Commissioners who are elected and serve at least two terms are allowed to remain on the group plan provided they pay 75-percent of the cost.

The News Reporter requested a copy of the manual draft prior to the vote. A personnel office employee said, per County Manager Jim Varner, “it was not ready to be released.” Only after the policy was adopted was a copy provided to the newspaper.

It is unclear if the health insurance cost for commissioners leaving the board is included in the fiscal 2006-2007 budget, effective July 1. Insurance-employee benefits are listed as a line item totaling $46,994 in the governing body’s budget. A total of $301,529 is budgeted for all of the governing body’s expenses, including salaries and wages, telephone, monthly travel allowance for private vehicle travel in and out of the county, travel to out-of-state meetings, and office supplies.

Messages left with commissioners Lynwood Norris and Dutton were not returned.