Short deadline for important decision
Commissioners approve health insurance plan
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

A benefit package for county employees with relatively few changes was approved by the Carroll County Commissioners Monday morning. The decision of which plan to choose was due by April 1, so commissioners had to work fast to make a quick decision at the Monday morning meeting.

In front of a large group of employees, commissioners approved a contract with United Health Care for 144 county employees.

"I am in favor of providing the best possible insurance we can for our employees," commissioner Bill Brown said. "I do not want to make insurance more of a burden for them than it already is."

Employees from the probation, treasurer, auditor and recorder's offices and the health department were present for the one-and-a-half-hour discussion. They listened and provided input about two option plans presented by Cindy Finkenbinder, county health insurance agent of record.

The plan chosen will increase the single-insured contribution from $1 to $10/month. A $100 or $500 deduction (employee choice) is required in the package. The co-pay amount for office visits will be $15 for a regular visit and $30 to see a specialist. Prescriptions will cost $10 for generic drugs, $30 for name brand and $40 for non-preferred drugs.

"I think the new plan is doable," county recorder Barb Chapman said. "The commissioners tried to stay as close to last year's plan as possible."

"I don't think the coverage is bad," first clerk Jenny Waymire said. "My premium will increase from about $142 to at least $337 if I take the $500 deductible plan."

"This is going to make a major impact on our finances," Waymire continued. "But as a whole, I'm not unhappy with the decision."

Both Chapman and Waymire agreed the commissioners should have been given more time and more options to choose from than were presented to them.

Carroll Manor

A 38.2 acre parcel of land around Carroll Manor was leased to county resident Victor Brown for $140/acre for the next two years. Whether or not to sell a portion of that tract of land to the Indiana Packers Corporation has been hotly debated among county residents and leaders.

Brown will farm the ground after signing the contract.

"Things are kind of locked in for two years now," commissioners' president Loren Hylton said in a follow-up Comet interview. "Of course, contracts can always be changed," he added.

Change orders for a $10,400 reduction in construction costs for the Carroll Manor renovation project were approved.

Council finance committee

Committee chair Ann Brown presented a formal report, including recommendations, to commissioners. Brown said the county has experienced "very rapidly declining cash balance" in the past four years.

"We aren't broke," she said, "but we never know how much money we have to spend and we are never aware of what the bottom line is."

Brown reported the council recommended commissioners halt new spending and new bridge construction. She clarified that recommendation did not mean contracts were to be broken.

"You should look at those things - not knowing if the money is there or not, committee member Steve Ashby said. "We're not saying stop the county," But we've got some things to look at to get to the end of the year."

"The state board of accounts encouraged the council to face this problem," Brown said. "They confirmed the need for swift and immediate action."

No action was taken to implement recommendations at the meeting.

***A more comprehensive list of recommendations can be found in the story titled "Council approves early financial audit" in this issue of the Comet. For a copy of the complete report, contact Ann Brown at (574) 967-3261.

County cell phone contracts

Ashby presented a memorandum of agreement with Nextel to provide service to the county, in conjunction with the city of Delphi and the town of Flora, for a 25 percent discount of the current rate.

The measure would provide a $356/month savings for the county. The plan included 30 cell phones.

Ashby said the county financially supports a total of 42 cell phones. He advised reimbursement for the additional units may be inappropriately documented according to IRS regulations.

Commissioners endorsed the agreement.

They also approved an agreement with Capital Recovery Systems Inc. to provide collection services for county emergency medical services.

Highway department

County highway supervisor Ramzi Awwad reported that CR600S, one road to be used by heavy trucks going to and from the proposed dairy in Democrat Township, was in poor condition.

"There have been heavy semis on that road," commissioner Brown said, "and they've taken the road with them. It's broken all to pieces."

Awwad said the road would have to be reconstructed to accommodate more traffic.

"There isn't road there to support semis," Brown said. "We're in the 21st century and we have 1940s roads. The highway department can't do anything about it."

"It's not the only road in the county in that condition," Awwad advised.

He said Major Moves and the county LOHUT added approximately 30 percent to the road budget. Without those two funding streams, the county would have approximately $200,000 to spend on roads each year. Awwad said it costs around $100,000 to construct one mile of road. He reminded commissioners that Major Moves money will possibly be available only one more year.

"That's kind of a bleak picture," Brown said. "I don't know if the majority of the people are willing to spend the money for new roads. The concern about heavy truck traffic on CR600S is well founded."

"Carroll County is attempting to maintain the same number of miles of roads as Tippecanoe County with fewer people paying for it," Awwad said. "We have an unbalanced equation."