Cost of health insurance for Wysox Township supervisors an emerging issue

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: January 24, 2011

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WYSOX TOWNSHIP - The cost of health insurance for the Wysox Township supervisors, including the $35,342 that the township is reportedly spending annually on health insurance just for Supervisor Gary Foster and his wife, has become an issue in the township.

The matter was raised at the supervisors' December meeting by township resident Walter "Sonny" Warburton, who said that the annual amount that the township is spending on health insurance for its township supervisors is $2,263.68 for the first supervisor, $11,606 for the second supervisor and $35,342 for the third supervisor.

He said he obtained the amounts by filing a Right-to-Know request with the township.

The taxpayers "are paying a big bill" for the supervisors' health insurance, he said.

The $35,342 was spent on health insurance for Supervisor Gary Foster and his wife; the $11,606 was spent on health insurance for Supervisor Jim Roof and his child; and the $2,263.68 was spent on health insurance for Supervisor Bill Shoemaker, the supervisors said.

The supervisors do not help pay their health insurance premiums, which is covered entirely by the township, said township Secretary/Treasurer Jim Ward .

Shoemaker's health insurance is less expensive than the other supervisors' because he has no family members on his policy and because he is also on Medicare.

Foster said he is not planning on giving up his health insurance.

"It's the only benefit I get" from the township, Foster said. "I won't give it up."

Foster, who serves as the township's road master, said he has not gotten a raise in five years, and currently earns $12.80 per hour as roadmaster. He said he is a part-time employee working 30-32 hours per week. At 30 hours per week, his annual salary would be $19,968.

Bill Them, who serves as chairman of the township's zoning hearing board, suggested at the December meeting that the township do away with health insurance for the township supervisors and use the savings to hire a "professional" to manage the township.

Ward "should retire," Them said. "Half the time he doesn't get the minutes right," Them said.

"I think we could get supervisors who could serve without health insurance," Them said.

The township's health insurance is through Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Shoemaker said.

In an interview on Friday, Foster said he did not know why his health insurance policy was so expensive.

"Mine shouldn't be any more" expensive than the other health insurance policies that the township has, he said.

Foster works part-time for the township as roadmaster, and also has a non-township job as a trucker, according to Ward.

Ward said the three supervisors each receive only $1,850 annually for their work as elected supervisors.

The question of how common it is for townships to provide health insurance for their supervisors was also discussed at the December meeting.

Warburton said that Wysox is one of the few townships in the county that gives health insurance to its supervisors.

But Foster said it is much more common than that for supervisors to receive health insurance.

In an interview on Friday, Ginni Linn, the director of communications for the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), said it is "pretty common" for townships to provide health insurance for their supervisors.

She said that PSATS investigated how common it is to provide health insurance as part of its 2010 Wage and Salary Survey.

Of the 1,047 townships that responded to the survey, 655, or 63 percent, provide medical and hospitalization insurance for their employees, including township supervisors who serve as employees of the township, Linn said. Supervisors may be employed by their township in jobs such as roadmaster and township secretary/treasurer, she said.

Of the 655 townships that provided health insurance for their employees, 166, or 25 percent, also provided health insurance for their "non-employee supervisors," she said.

Non-employee supervisors "serve in their elected capacity only," performing duties such as attending township supervisors' meetings, she said.

She said that it is the board of supervisors of a township that decides whether the township will provide health insurance for its supervisors.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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