CCTVS (County, City, Towns, Villages, Schools)
Cortland, NY 13045
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
I.
Advisory Board
http://www.cortland-co.org
~ Minutes ~
Eric Mulvihill
7:00 PM
Main Conference Room
Call to Order
Ms. Price called the meeting to order at 7PM, she said this is the third and final meeting to focus
on the Workers' Compensation program
Attendee Name
Sandra Price
Charles Sudbrink
Donnell Boyden
George Wagner
Mary Ann Discenza
Gordon Wheelock
Andrew Fuller
Fred Forbes
Mack Cook
Adam Megivern
Michelle Morse
Brian Tobin
Jim Greggains
Jud Vickery
Lloyd Sutton
Genenieve Suits
Peggy Mousaw
Eric Mulvihill
II.
Status
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Arrived
Minutes Approval
1.
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
2.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
III.
Public Portion
IV.
Discussion Items
1.
Title
Co-Chair
Co-Chair
Legislative District 8
Legislative District 15
Legislative District 6
Legislative District 10
Councilperson, Town of Scott
Supervisor, Town of Homer
Administrator, City of Cortland
Councilperson, City of Cortland
Supervisor, Town of Harford
Mayor, City of Cortland
Fire Commissioner, Truxton
Fire Commissioner, Truxton
Supervisor, Town of Truxton
Mayor, village of Homer
Budget and Finance Director
Clerk, County Legisalture
Discussion Item (ID # 3535)
Continue Discussion of Worker's Compensation Program
COMMENTS - Current Meeting:
Ms. Mousaw distributed a spreadsheet showing the cost of the firefighter stop loss policy to the
individual municipalities. The cost of the policy will take effect in 2017. The revised spreadsheet also
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May 10, 2016
included $212 thousand dollars worth of program administrative fees that Ms. Mousaw has recommended
be charged to the municipalities beginning in 2017. In the past the County has absorbed the fees, but it is
draining the program fund balance.
Ms. Price said she has heard from some of the municipalities that they would prefer the
administrative fees be spread over four years with the first payment coming in 2018.
`Mr. Wagner inquired what charges the county incurs that warrant the fee. Ms. Mousaw said there
are three components, the third party administrative costs, a fee from New York State and a fee to verify
the claims.. Ms. Mousaw said there is currently $332 thousand dollars in the loss reserve fund and the
County currently carries $5 million worth of Worker's Compensation liability. This is part of the reason
she wants to assess the fee to the municipalities in order to increase the reserve contributions.
Ms. Suits said the Village of Homer did not include the increased costs in the 2016-2017 budget
and to begin paying the fees this year would be a hardship. Ms. Mousaw said the County pays just under
57% of the program cots with the City paying nearly 16.4%.
Mr. Sutton said he appreciates the work that has been done to evenly distribute the costs but he
still believes the costs to the participants should be based on risk and exposure. The municipalities will
pay the administrative fees, but if they have claims they will have to pay even more.
Ms. Suits urged the group to take a serious look at moving toward a consortium model over the
next years as a way to save money on the program. Ms. Mousaw said the current contract with McNeil
Insurance Services to administer the program runs 4 years. Mr. Tobin said he was under the impression
that the current discussion was intended to reach a short term agreement and then begin negotiating a
longer term plan for coverage. He questioned the four year contract and said it basically locks everyone
into the same program. Ms. Mousaw said the third party administration contract was approved in March.
Ms. Suits said the Tompkins County Health Insurance consortium has saved the Village money. Ms.
Mousaw said options can be reviewed over the next couple years. Mr. Cook said it is key to move as a
group to a consortium. Ms. Mousaw questioned if a consortium would accept the current program liability
and Mr. Cook said he is confident that it will.
The group then discussed the process for a municipality that may want to opt out the program.
Ms. Mousaw said they would need to give notice by July 1st and buy out any costs. Mr. Tobin then
discussed if the local workers compensation law is a binding contract on the municipalities and what
happens if they opt out. Mr. Cook believes the municipal partners should sign memorandums of
understanding to participate because the County cannot bind other municipalities. Ms. Mousaw said she
would like to the see the revised local law include contracts for each Town and Village she would also
like to see a provision that prevents municipalities that opt of the program from re-joining for a minimum
of five years. Mr. Cook asked if the buy-out costs for municipalities that wish to exit the program are
based on actuarial calculations. Ms. Mousaw said she believes they are calculated by an actuarial. Mr.
Cook suggested the group should not be talking about opt-outs or buy-out's and the group should focus on
moving to a consortium as a single entity.
Mr. Forbes said he was surprised to learn the County had already renewed with the third party
administrator which essentially locks everyone into the program. Mr. Forbes said members of his Town
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Board are investigating options for private coverage. He felt that an exit clause keeping municipalities
from re-entering the plan is unnecessary as it would cost prohibitive to re-join.
Mr. Megivern said he would prefer to see the fees levied starting in 2018 and looking for other
options to provide coverage. Mr. Boyden said everyone is facing a tight property tax cap and supports
delaying the fees. Mr. Wagner suggested the fees be spread out over five years instead of four. He went
on to say that discussions have been ongoing since February regarding the workers' compensation
program. Mr. Wagner said steps have been taken to reduce the fire department liability with the firefighter
stop-loss policy in an attempt to minimize future liability, in addition there is a new safety officer coming
on-board and he would like to see a county-wide safety program. In years to come the program should
lead to a reduction in costs and fewer accidents, in the meantime the municipalities will have to bite the
bullet as there is no cheap worker's compensation program
Mr. Forbes took offense at previous allegations that the municipalities were not aggressively
managing their claims. He would like to see the claims committee bring in additional participants beyond
the third party administrator to review claims as claims should be scrutinized with same continuity. Mr.
Wagner believes this and other programs need more continuity. Ms. Price believes that there sufficient
policies in place regarding the claims review process.
Mr. Sudbrink feels increasing the fees to the municipal partners is the County levying an
unfunded mandate. He feels its hypocritical when the county complains about unfunded state mandates
and then passes unfunded mandates on to the towns and Villages. Ms. Mousaw says the fees are claims
based and that private insurance carriers would asses fees.
Ms. Price said the Legislature should look at expanding the claims committee to include some
municipal representatives, but in the meantime a recommendation on how to proceed needs to be sent to
the Legislature's Personnel Committee.
Mr. Sutton said if the administrative fees are based on claims in the private sector why are they
not based on claims in the county plan. He further stated that if this coverage were based on payroll and
claims the municipalities would be more supportive.
Ms. Price said there seems to be consensus to begin assessing the fees in 2018. Mr. Cook asked if
the new local law will include the need for memorandums of understanding? Ms. Mousaw said it would.
Mr. Cook said it will be a tight timeline for all the participants to review and respond the revised local law
before July 1st.
Ms. Price asked the group if they wanted to meet in June and what topics they would like to
discuss moving forward. Ms. Mousaw said some towns are passing laws to leave sales tax funds with the
county in lieu of property tax payments, she said a standard resolution will be sent out that needs to be
passed and put on file with the state comptrollers office. Mr. Fuller inquired when the current sales tax
sharing agreement ends and said he would like to begin discussion on the new agreement. Ms. Mousaw
said she would like to begin those discussion in April of 2017.
Ms. Mousaw suggested that for the June meeting she would like to discuss the distribution of
tourism funding and shared services grants.
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May 10, 2016
Meeting adjourned at 7:59 PM
RESULT:
2.
COMPLETED
Next Meeting June 14th 7PM
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