Parish council votes to keep health coverage

St. Martinville –The May 1 council meeting was moved up from Tuesday to Monday so as not to interfere with another event. A proposal made last month would have eliminated the insurance as part of the compensation package and shifted the cost to the members.
Only three members voted to eliminate the coverage – Chris Tauzin of Dist. 5, Neil Thibodeaux of Dist. 4 and Dean LeBlanc of Dist. 8.
Providing group health insurance for elected council members has been in place since the old police jury days but Tauzin had proposed an ordinance ending the generous policy, which inflation has brought to about $1,200 per month for each covered member.
Council members enrolled in the plan include Byron Fuselier, Dist. 1; Lisa Nelson, Dist. 2; Jason Willis, Dist. 3; Jill Hebert, Dist. 6; and Albert “Dada” Menard, Dist. 7.
They all voted to keep their coverage, joined by first term councilman Daniel Richard of Dist. 9, who is not in the plan.
Critics of the insurance objected to covering council members, who are considered part-time employees. They are paid for 20 hours per week, even though proponents of the insurance benefit, including council chairman Willis, said they actually work much more than that.
Several residents addressed the council, all speaking in favor of the ordinance. The chief objections to the existing policy centered on the unavailability of coverage for other part-time parish employees. Many employees, including firefighters, are limited to part-time employment, presumably to avoid offering benefits such as insurance. The council members favoring elimination of the coverage have made the same point.
“If first responders who place themselves in harm’s way don’t deserve coverage, why do we,” they asked.
Another objection to health insurance benefits is that the cost to parish taxpayers is constantly rising, so that council pay essentially rises according to the inflation in insurance rates. The cost of coverage is nearly ten times what it was when the policy was adopted.
On the other side of the argument, members opposed to the change pointed out that council pay has not risen since the adoption of the home rule charter in 1999. In fact, council members have never asked for a pay increase, even though inflation since 1985, when jury pay was set at $800 per month, has diminished effective pay significantly.
Nelson said she had checked pay policies in other parishes and found that St. Martin Council compensation is among the lowest she found. And she said 10 out of the 19 parishes she checked offered health insurance as part of the compensation package.
The change in policy would not have affected the current council but would have applied to members elected in 2019 and after. Menard said, “It’s not right for us to enjoy this benefit while we are here then deprive future members of it.”
Willis added “The parish is in good shape financially, this change would make sense if it was needed, but it’s not.”