CCC Board: No raise for management confidential staff

Nov. 06--PLATTSBURGH -- The Clinton Community College Board of Trustees approved a zero percent cost-of-living raise for management confidential employees at a recent meeting.

A separate resolution noted that group of employees has had only one such raise in the past five years.

The board members recognized that management confidential employees work long hours throughout the year and said their salaries are below market-pay prices.

However, the resolution continued, the college's "budgeted 2017-18 expenses significantly exceed projected revenue."

The votes on several resolutions on management confidential employees' pay and benefits followed an executive session called by Trustee Bernie Bassett, who chairs the Negotiations Committee.

PREMIUM INCREASE

To ensure more equality of benefits among employee groups and "design agreements that are manageable with current budget restrictions," the board approved an increase in the premiums those employees have to pay.

Those hired before Sept. 1, 2017, and enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance plans have to contribute 15 percent of premiums, while those hired on or after must contribute 25 percent.

Board of Trustees Chair David Favro was the only trustee to vote against the measure.

The board also decreased health-insurance buyouts to $1,500 for individual coverage and $3,150 for family coverage.

Management confidential employees who qualify for family coverage but enroll in individual coverage will not receive buyouts.

Both of those resolutions will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

NEW OPTION

Management-confidential employees now have the Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Signature Deductible plan as a health-insurance option.

Those who enroll in family coverage for 2018 will receive $150 biweekly or $3,009 annualized in contributions to a health savings account.

Employees who have individual coverage will receive $75 biweekly or $1,950 annualized.

Those are in lieu of contributions to a flexible-spending account.

CARRY-OVER DECREASE

The board approved a decrease in the number of vacation days that management-confidential employees can carry over from one fiscal year to the next to 30, starting Sept. 1, 2017.

And those hired on or after that date can accumulate only one sick day per month.

COALITION INSURANCE

Earlier in the meeting, CCC Director of Human Resources Sarah Potter presented a recommendation "to approve a high-deductible health-care plan and health savings account memorandum agreement with the non-teaching professional coalition."

Coalition members would then be able to choose between that plan and the current New York State Health Insurance Plan.

The latter is very rich, Potter explained, with premiums that go up every year.

"They are forecasting, predicting an increase of 7.9 percent for 2018," she said. "This high-deductible plan has lower premiums because there is a deductible."

HSA ENCOURAGED

Bassett asked how much employees would save, to which Potter replied that it ranges from $300 to $900, depending on whether they are enrolled in an individual or family plan.

The HR department is encouraging coalition members to "contribute their premium savings to their health-savings account to help cover the deductible," she said.

"The nice thing about an HSA is, if you don't use it, you don't lose it," Trustee Patricia Garrow pointed out, "so it accumulates for later on in life when you may or may not have health insurance."

The board unanimously approved the measure.

OTHER MEASURES

In other new business, the Board of Trustees:

--Passed resolutions to deactivate the computer technology associate degree program and adopt the college's 2017-20 strategic plan.

--Voted to go along with a SUNY initiative to extend resident tuition rates to students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands displaced by Hurricanes Maria and Irma for the 2017-18 school year.

--Approved onsite project-representative services for the Learning Commons project, changing the bottom-line dollar amount from $136,000 to $119,500 due to construction supervision, Favro said.

The board's next meeting will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, in room 228M of the Moore Academic Building. Meetings are open to the public.

Email Cara Chapman:

cchapman@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: @PPR_carachapman

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