COMMENTARY - City employee benefits: Toward a fair solution

By WILLIAM J. PHELAN

Quincy’s public employees are some of the finest and most hard working people I’ve ever met. I wish I could give them the world when it comes to salaries and benefits, but as mayor it’s my job to find a balance that also protects the hard earned tax dollars of homeowners and other property taxpayers.

And today’s reality is that soaring health care costs for city employees threaten our city’s fiscal health, and in fairness to taxpayers they must be brought into line with benefits provided in other cities and towns, and in the business world.

Anyone who reads the newspapers knows the surging cost of health care is a national issue that’s putting a financial strain on private businesses, individuals, and state and local governments.

In Boston, for instance, health insurance costs have risen 92 percent over the past six years. Here in Quincy, despite our success in holding down costs and reducing the number of city employees through attrition, city employee benefits have doubled from $18 million to $36 million in the last five years alone.

That’s because here in Quincy, taxpayers pay an extremely generous 90% of our employee benefits, and employees have a $5 co-payment option. How many Quincy residents - regardless of where they work - enjoy that kind of a bargain? Compare that 90 percent subsidy to what taxpayers in surrounding communities pay: Braintree pays 67% of their employees’ benefits; Weymouth 70%; Randolph 73%; Newton, 80%; and Brookline 75%.

In fairness to Quincy’s taxpayers, it’s time to ask municipal employees to pay a more equitable share of these costs.

I have the utmost respect and appreciation for all of our city employees. That’s why we’ve worked so hard to get our fiscal house in order, and have increased our school, public safety and other municipal budgets every year I have been in office.

We’re doing more with less, but today the inescapable truth is that we must get a handle on employee health costs to address this mounting, inevitable future fiscal crisis.

I was honored to have been appointed a member of the Metropolitan Mayors Association’s Municipal Health Insurance Working Group, where for 18 months I worked with representatives from municipal governments, employee unions and retirees, legislators and executives from the Group Insurance Commission to create such a solution.

Our working group crafted legislation, included in Gov. Deval Patrick’s recent Municipal Partnership Act, that would allow communities the local option of joining the state’s insurance plan.

Simply put, by joining the state plan - which has served state employees well for over 50 years - we would receive much better rates and thus significantly reduce the city’s taxpayers’ overall costs by millions of dollars.

It makes sense for our employees; and it makes sense for our taxpayers. I strongly urge all of our elected leaders on Beacon Hill to pass this vital legislation swiftly to give cities and towns the tools we need to manage this fiscal crisis.

I would also encourage all of those employees who took the time to participate in the outdoor rally at City Hall to call, write or e-mail their state senators and representatives to lobby for this legislation. The impact of your support could make a significant difference.

So there are really two viable solutions to the spiraling costs of employee health benefits: Quincy city employees can agree to a reasonable increase in their share of costs up to 20 percent, or they can help push for passage of this legislation and agree to secure their health benefits through the state’s Group Insurance Commission once the law is passed.

Health care need not remain a ‘‘taxpayers versus city employees’’ issue. With passage of the legislation submitted by Gov. Patrick and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, we can enact the reforms suggested by the working group on which I served, and we can achieve a fair and equitable solution that works for Quincy employees, and taxpayers.

William J. Phelan is mayor of Quincy.

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Monday, April 16, 2007