St. Lawrence County looks at workers’ compensation formula

June 30--St. Lawrence County legislators are again talking about changing the way workers' compensation costs are calculated in a way that likely would benefit more rural areas over larger municipalities.

In a twist away from the usual party politics, it's an issue that tends to divide board members on whether they represent districts with a large number of government employees -- such as Massena, where there is a municipal hospital, a municipal electric department and village police -- or districts that have few government workers but high property values, such as the town of Clifton, which has extensive waterfront.

The current formula for the self-insurance plan is set up so that towns, villages and the city of Ogdensburg pay their annual share based on 70 percent property assessment and 30 percent experience over the past three years.

"It's so blatantly unfair," said Legislator Frederick S. Morrill, D-DeKalb Junction, who represents towns that contain Star Lake, Cranberry Lake and Trout Lake. "Just because it's been wrong forever doesn't mean we should do it forever. The small towns are subsidizing the big towns."

Legislators recently agreed to pay up to $10,000 for JTP Risk Consulting, East Syracuse, to run the numbers in a different way using two calculations based on payroll, risk categories and experience. The cost for the study will be borne through the administration of workers' compensation.

The plan is for the county board to have something to consider as soon as possible as any change to the formula would have to be voted on in August, when the three-year cycle to vote on the parameters of the distribution comes around.

"The extent of the change is unpredictable," county attorney Michael C. Crowe said. "It's hard to say because of the interplay that real property has on the numbers."

Regardless, legislators already are lining up on both sides of the argument based on what they assume a change would mean for their constituents.

The current formula already puts too much of an onus on the town and village of Massena, said Legislator Gregory M. Paquin, D-Massena. Shifting costs so that Massena pays more is unacceptable, he said.

"Unless I see numbers that save the town and village of Massena, my vote will be 'no' permanently," Mr. Paquin said.

Having more workers of any kind guarantees there will be more accidents, he said.

But the formula does not take into account that Massena Memorial Hospital serves more than Massena and that the existence of a village police department means the county does not have to use sheriff's deputies, keeping those costs down.

Mr. Morrill has been arguing for a change since he first took office.

"I've been complaining loudly about this every time we do this," he said.

The county changed the formula in the 1990s to an 85/15 split for 1993, an 80/20 division for 1995 and the current 70/30 ratio beginning in 1996.

The change was part of a package deal to cushion any large impact from bad experience, said Republican Election Commissioner Thomas A. Nichols, a county legislator at the time.

It was not connected to the redistribution of sales tax from a formula based solely on assessed property value to one based 50 percent on population and 50 percent on property value, which was passed in 1999.

"There were people who tried to connect them later on," Mr. Nichols said.

Perhaps they should be linked, especially if the board is considering a change, said Legislator Stephen M. Putman, D-Canton.

"I don't think it's fair to look at workers' compensation in a vacuum," he said. "To me, it's only one piece of the interrelationship."

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