Cuts sting
Guilderland scales back retirement benefits



GUILDERLAND — Town workers may be surprised, when they look at their new employee handbooks, to see that some benefits have been cut.

Starting Jan., 1 2008, the town of Guilderland will no longer provide Medicare reimbursements to retirees — but, those already retired will be grand-fathered in at the same rates they are currently receiving.
"They will continue to receive the same reimbursement rates as they did," said Supervisor Kenneth Runion. "But, if the Medicare cost increases, the reimbursements will not."

The town board, without public discussion, decided to cut the reimbursement when revising the employee handbook last year.

Several workers and retirees did not know about the cut until The Enterprise called.
"Wow, that’s not going to settle well," said Pat House. "Boy, everything changes, doesn’t it."
House, a former town animal-control officer and long-time secretary at the police department, said she retired "quite a while ago."

A former town supervisor, Anne T. Rose, a Republican, said she was not aware the cuts had been approved.
"I had heard rumors, something about"they were looking to cut back," Rose said. "But I’m grateful that I have insurance"it’s the health insurance you want."
Rose said that some people are on "very fixed incomes" and would need time to save the extra money.
"I thought, out of courtesy, they would have sent a letter," said Rose. "Just to give people a heads up out of kindness."

Runion told The Enterprise that other towns have done away with Medicare reimbursement programs, or simply never had them, and that Guilderland "held off for as long as we could."
"They just keep chipping away at it," Runion said of insurance providers. "Health insurance has become a large portion of our annual budget"with double digit increases in recent years."

The town used to get a deduction from its insurance provider for the reimbursements, but this year that stopped.
"This year, they don’t differentiate it," Runion said. "You pay the same premium no matter what"We’d be paying more for the retirees than for the working ones."

Runion said town employees are being notified of the change in benefits and that letters will be sent out to individuals.
"We normally don’t do anything retroactively," said Runion. "We normally do things with cutoff dates."
Town workers are not a part of negotiation processes, revisions, or renewals of employee handbook policies, nor are they consulted about them, because it is an "administrative process," Runion said.
"It’s a policy decision established by the town board," he said of the town’s all-Democratic board.

Current workforce
Runion said the number of people retiring from the town is no greater now than it has been in the past, and that it’s not putting a tremendous strain on the town budget. He described the current work force as "mixed" in terms of age.

The town has several types of employees on its payrolls, including union and non-union workers, Civil Service employees, and both appointed and elected officials.

Currently, there are 35 retired town workers over the age of 65, according to the town’s personnel administrator, Stacia Brigadier, and five surviving spouses of retirees, she said.

Depending on the number of years an employee has worked, surviving spouses receive either 35 or 50 percent coverage from Guilderland, according to the 2007 employee handbook.

Medicare is the largest health-insurance program in the nation and is administered by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It covers nearly 40 million Americans who are 65 years or older. Some eligible recipients under the age of 65 who have disabilities can also be enrolled.

Brigadier said nearly 270 employees are listed on the town’s payroll, but, in summer months, the number increases by an additional 150 seasonal part-time employees.

The Police Benevolent Association has 35 employees working in Guilderland and there are 18 Teamsters, who are all on the paramedic staff in the town’s emergency medical services, said Brigadier.
Runion said the PBA "has an entirely different retirement system" than non-union employees.

The town also has a number of Civil Service Employee Association workers.
"It is clear that post-employment benefits are not protected by the unions," Runion told The Enterprise. "There is no union involvement in these matters"because there are no union contracts after they retire."