County budget passes; effort to kill board’s health insurance ‘not going to die’

Nov. 7--YORKVILLE -- After several meetings that included contentious debates about Racine County employee health insurance along with health insurance for Racine County Board members, the 2020 county budget passed overwhelmingly Tuesday evening.

The budget is $167.8 million, which is up slightly more than $10 million from last year and includes a $56 million tax levy.

There were two amendments that were approved which included keeping a part-time employee position that's paid for with state funding and a few minor procedural changes.

"This is a budget that invests in public safety, continues improvements in Racine County parks, and responsibly manages taxpayer dollars to position Racine County for long-term success," Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said. "I want to thank the County Board for their support and partnership in this budget process, and I look forward to continuing to work together to do right by our residents and businesses."

The 2020 county tax rate is expected to be $3.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value, down from $3.40 in 2019. The County Board will formally set the tax levy on Tuesday.

The only supervisor to vote against the budget was Janet Bernberg of Wind Point, who said she voted based on principal.

Bernberg, who proposed a resolution that would have ended health insurance for board members in the next term, said she voted against the budget because the health insurance was included in the budget, "and I don't approve of it."

"I brought that resolution last week and it was defeated," Bernberg said. She said she did not attempt to remove the insurance from the budget via an amendment "because it wouldn't have won."

In 2011, the County Board passed a resolution effectively eliminating health insurance for supervisors who would be elected in 2012 and beyond.

However, those elected before the policy change are allowed to keep their health insurance and pay the same rates as county employees.

Today, of the 21 County Board seats, 10 are eligible for benefits and nine are currently accepting county health insurance, which costs the county roughly $125,000 per year.

Because the county is self-insured, the county is responsible for claims up to $250,000 per person.

Bernberg said she is considering proposing the resolution again in the future.

"It's not going to die," Bernberg said, adding she is thinking about proposing the removal of board member health insurance again. "If I can convince anyone in the meantime, right now the votes aren't there. I think it will be the same. Maybe after the next election, definitely it will come up."

'Great' budget

Despite voting against the budget, Bernberg did say that it is "a great budget."

"The county executive and all of his department heads and all of the people in his departments work very hard, and on the whole it's an excellent budget," Bernberg said.

Supervisor Robert Miller of Mount Pleasant said the board can be "proud" of the 2020 budget.

"It fits the needs of our constituents at a responsible cost," Miller said. "It comes with a lot of hard work and scrutiny by our county leadership, and continues an excellent tradition of all of our staff working and looking constantly for ways to provide excellent services at a reasonable cost."

County health care changes

Currently, individual Racine County employees have a $400 annual deductible for in-network doctors. But, under the new health plan, that number goes up to $1,000; while employees on the family plan currently have a deductible of $800, which is proposed to go up to $2,000.

The out-of-pocket costs are also planning to go up but not as much as the deductible.

Currently, individual employees have a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cost in-network and the proposal is asking to increase the costs to $2,500. For employees on the family plan, the current annual out-of-pocket cost is $4,000 and under the new proposal that would rise to $5,000.

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