Council Passes Employee Health Care Overhaul

Despite objections over punctuality, necessity and transparency, a narrowly divided Hyattsville City Council approved a by a vote of six to three, with one abstention. 

Mayor Marc Tartaro pressed the city council to act on the health care overhaul, designed to address Already, as a result of council inaction to address the issue during the last fiscal year, Tartaro said that the unfunded liability had already grown to roughly $1 million. 

"We are looking at a liability that is almost the size of the city budget," said Tartaro at last night's city council meeting. "It is very real."

Most controversial for city employees was the proposal to put a dollar cap on the city contribution for health insurance. Currently, Hyattsville picks up the tab for 80 percent of total monthly premium costs.

City officials projected that the vast majority of city employees would see a reduction in their health care costs under the new plan. 

did not dispute this, but objected to the health care overhaul saying that it could lead to higher health care costs in the future if the dollar cap is not raised in pace with inflation and increases in the cost of living. 

Some members of Hyattsville's City Council felt as if they were pushed up against a wall, forced to pass the overhaul before it could be properly considered.

The City Council was only briefed in open session on the measure last Wednesday. . If a new plan was not approved by then, the city would be forced to continue for another year under the existing health care benefit package, increasing the unfunded liability. 

"I feel like we've been backed into a corner," said Councilor Shani Warner (Ward 2). "Obviously the process broke down. We were faced with a situation last Wednesday where we had to act by today."

Tartaro stressed that the health care benefit overhaul was not cutting benefits to city employees overall. 

"This proposal is not saving money," said Tartaro. "This proposal for the defined health care plan is a five to six percent increase in the overall budget for this. It may impact certain staff that way, but this is not a cut."

Tartaro also addressed transparency complaints in the context of the difficulties inherent in trying to right the municipal ship of state when shorthanded. 

"I'm sorry if people feel like they haven't gotten all the information necessary," said Tartaro. "We can do better at that. But the city has been in turmoil in terms of staffing and change for the last two years, and it's been a very difficult time for the city in a number of ways."

The final vote ended up with city councilors Matt McKnight (Ward 3), David Hiles (Ward 2), Paula Perry  (Ward 4), Shani Warner (Ward 2), Eric Winguard (Ward 1) and Mayor Marc Tartaro voting in favor of the overhaul. 

Voting against the measure were city councilors Ruth Ann Frazier (Ward 5), Tim Hunt (Ward 3) and Candace Hollingsworth (Ward 1).

Councilor Carlos Lizanne (Ward 4) abstained from the vote.  

After the meeting Patrick O'Hagan, president of the Hyattsville Fraternal Order of Police, said he wasn't surprised that the health care benefit overhaul passed, but he urged elected leaders to study pay and benefits for city employees within the next year.