County Board debates retiree health insurance plan By BRIAN LEAHY of The Gazette Portage County officials continue to debate how to best provide health insurance to retired county employees at an acceptable cost to the county. The Portage County Board of Supervisors was to vote Tuesday night on a resolution calling for the annual percent increase/decrease in rates for county retirees be the same as that for the county's portion of rates for active county employees. Instead of approving or rejecting the resolution, the board referred it back to the Personnel Committee. The resolution also called for the percent increase/decrease in county costs for each of the major plan types for active employees (single, family, single-preferred provider option and family-preferred provider option) would be directly applied to like plan types for the retirees. Health insurance rates county employee retirees now pay have increased at rates higher than the county pays for active employees, resulting in financial hardship for retirees. The county has subsidized the retiree health insurance program in 2000 and 2001 to help offset the rate increase. The county operates a self-funded health insurance plan. Current employees are in one group and retired employees in another. As with all health insurance, the medical experience of group members determines the premiums for the group. As a group, older retirees are more likely to have expensive health problems than younger, current employees, so insurance costs more for retirees. Sheriff Stan Potocki called it an issue of fairness, saying some retirees have put in as much as 35 years service to the county when they could have made more in the private sector. Bill McCauley, who recently retired from the Health and Human Services Department, said having a good health insurance plan for retirees is also important for current employees. Employees who know they will be taken care of in the future would be more likely to stay with the county. County Board Chairman Clarence Hintz recommended sending the retiree health care issue back to the Personnel Committee for additional study. The taxpayers should know what it will cost them, and board members have been hearing "a lot of different figures," he said. "I think we need to refer it back," said Supervisor Philip Idsvoog. "I think we need to confront that matter and we decide one way or another." The Personnel Committee will bring forward "exactly what we discover" so all board members can make an informed decision, Personnel Committee Chairman James Gifford said. * * * DAIRY FARM BLOCK GRANT: The County Board approved a seven-year $200,000 Community Development Block Grant for Economic Development (CDBG-ED) for Gordondale Farms, Nelsonville. The money would be used to provide working capital to the farm, which is proposing to invest about $2.6 million to expand its dairy business. The state Department of Commerce will provide the loan. Portage County will receive $6,000 to administer it. Conditions of the loan call for the farm to keep the seven existing full-time positions, plus create 13 new full-time positions. At least 51 percent of all new full-time positions must be made available to persons with low to moderate income. The loan has a 4 percent interest rate. Loan payments will come back to the county and be used to grow the amount of the revolving loan. In a separate resolution, supervisors approved the economic development revolving loan fund manual as required by the Department of Commerce. The manual is the official policy document in considering loan applications for the revolving loan program administered by the county. * * * AIRPORT OPERATIONS: Board members tabled a resolution calling for the county to contribute $28,000 in contingency funds to make up for revenue shortfalls at the Central Wisconsin Airport. The airport director has said he feels the airport can now stay within budget since the winter has been mild, said Finance Committee Chairman Richard Purcell. The airport has experienced reduced cash flow from reduced aircraft traffic following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Portage and Marathon counties jointly own and operate the Central Wisconsin Airport, with Portage County providing a 35 percent share and Marathon County a 65 percent share. The airport had been seeking a total of $80,000 to cover expenses. * * * MILITARY LEAVE POLICY: Supervisors amended the county's personnel policy regarding military leave. If a employee's compensation is less in the armed forces than as a county employee, the county will pay the difference for a period of military leave not to exceed 10 working days or 14 calendar days. If an employee is on military leave 31 days or more, the employee can elect to continue county health insurance coverage for up to 18 months at the employee's expense. The Sheriff's Department had one deputy called to active duty following Sept. 11. Potocki supported the military leave policy, saying men and women would be less likely to join reserve components if they knew their families could have financial troubles. "We would have a skeleton reserve force made up of single people," Potocki said. The vote was 27 to 1 for the policy. Gifford voted against the resolution. * * * REZONING APPROVAL: The board approved rezoning about 26 acres of land on the west side of Highway J in the town of Buena Vista from A1, Exclusive Agricultural District, to A20, Primary Agricultural District. The land is owned by Bruce and Julieann Heron. The rezoning will allow the building of one single-family home on the north end of the property.