By a 4-1 vote, the City Council decided to opt itself out of the city’s benefits package. Until this vote, the part-time members of the council were eligible for coverage by the city, at a cost of $397 per council member, per month.
While the vote was no unanimous, the effects are. After the grace period, which ends June 2011, no city council member will be able to receive coverage.
The move was likely motivated by costs more than anything, since the City paid $31,000 per year for the benefits of four council members.
From The Sun:
In a four-to-one decision, the Redlands City Council voted to amend the benefits packages of its members, eliminating their dental, vision and life insurance benefits. Councilman Pete Aguilar was the lone dissenter.
“In October, I proposed a measure that asked the staff to prepare resolutions and other implementing documents to eliminate employee benefits for city council members,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Bean. “These benefits included, the largest cost (being) medical insurance, but also vision, dental and life. These benefits have been in place for many years … but it didn’t seem right to me that a part-time city council person should have the same benefits as full-time employees in this health and medical area.”
Read the full article here.