23 Jul 2014 BOS Meeting

Just came back from the above 9a meeting.  May I take a moment to say I am very tired of my Supervisor's ridiculous reasoning during these meetings.  My mother used to tell me that if I was ignorant about a subject to keep my mouth shut rather then open it and remove all doubt.  Beat #2, we deserve better then this.  Let's work together and find someone who will help with the changes we need to make in our County.  For those of you who have supported Burnett in the past because he is your long time friend, please come to the meetings and watch the result of your vote.

Now, onto what went on in the meeting.  The agenda item was to "consider health Insurance waiting period for new employees - 30 days waiting period (insurance becomes effective the 1st day of the month after the waiting period)".

The information I was handed in writing appears below:

"The disadvantage and advantage of having a waiting period plays a part in what rate the group could get.  For example, if you choose ZERO day waiting period, your plan rate may have (a) 5% to 25% increase vs  (a)90 day waiting period.  The lower the waiting period the higher your rate could be vs the higher the waiting period, the lower the rate could be.  Most Counties do have a 90 day waiting period, such as Jasper County, Claiborne county, and Jefferson County to name a few.

Having (a) ZERO day waiting period is a major risk for the group because it is putting the whole group at risk for a higher rate.  Example, if a member has been with the group for 10 years and did not use the claims and the group hires a new employee that has major medical claims; the group's liability will increase because of the new employee that has major medical claims; the group's liability will increase because of the new employee's outrageous claim usage.  That is not fair to employees that have been there for 10 years becuase now the rate just increased.

When insurance companies rate a group based on risk factor(s) they look at average age, gender, height and weight, and waiting period to quote the group premiums.

(The) Tunica County Board of Supervisors use to have a self funded plan, therefore all the liability was on the County.

Self Funded Plan:

(In a self funded plan the liability) falls onto the employer.  Therefore, the employer can choose whether to have (a) waiting period or not.  Claims will come out of the group escrow account.  Liability is always higher because they take on all risks.

Example: Employee hired and insured (on the) same day (means the) employer will run into a possibility of (the new) employee being (previously) sick... (The) county takes on...(this)... liability immediately.

Fully Funded Plan:

(In a fully funded plan liability) is paid for by the insurance company.  Therefore, (the insurance company puts in) a waiting period...to protet the employer.  Liability is on insurance company and not (on) the employer.  (Better) rates for renewal.

30/60/90 Day waiting period

(Rate Risk) Factor:

0 day waiting period - Very High
30 day waiting period - High
60 day waiting period - Average
90 day waiting period - Lower"

The BOS voted to amend the employee handbook to reflect their concensus to be fair to new and present employees and to save the County money.  After the motion was made and a vote taken, Burnett arrived at the meeting.  Burnett started with his ridiculous statements which necessitated the County Administrator and the Chancery Clerk to repeat to him what had already been cleared from the agenda.

Blogger's note:  Look to the ACA (Obamacare) for portability and other benefits for transitioning employees.

Handing our Military Pink Slips

Yesterday, a friend...and I do consider her a very dear friend eventhough she's a Republican :) brought up the news report of the military drawdown.  I did mention that I had read an article about this subject but had not had time to investigate it.  That's what I do...investigate...that's why I'm a Whistleblower.  BTW, all corrections of what I found or think I found are welcome.  Just enter your information in the comments section of this blog.

So, here we go.  The budget sequestration went into effect on 1 Mar 2013.  Remember President Obama saying this was not a smart thing to do?  Yes, I believe this was President Obama's idea but he didn't think Republican would really do it.  Why?  Because it is not smart.  The President was trying to get the House to move on something...anything.  Well, he did that alright.  The House, incharge of all things money, shut down the government and didn't repeal the sequestration legislation.

The sequestration legislation is an across the board cut in federal spending.  Every department is included and this will last until 2021 unless we Democrates overturn the House or Republicans convince their representatives they don't want it.

Now, back to the Military Pink Slips.  The Defense Department was not left out of the sequestration cuts.  So, how are they going to make their cuts and get the most bang for their buck after the wars have ended?  It seems the Department of Defense has decided to make most of their cuts at the highest level.  After all, it wouldn't help their bottom line to cut a bunch of Privates.

How does this help America?  In my opinion it just makes us weaker and we are losing our investment in the training of these high level military men and women.  On an emotional level, I think any American who qualifies for service in the Military should be able to join and retire from the Military if they so choose.  They sure shouldn't be booted for budgetary reasons.

Now, let's talk about some action.  IMHO what Republicans need to do is write to their representatives in Congress and ask them to repeal sequestration.  Sequestration is a Republican problem because they allowed it to go into effect on 1 Mar 2013.  That shouldn't have happened and the government shutdown shouldn't have happened either.  Republicans need to write to President Obama and tell them they don't agree with the Military Pink Slip decision.  Republicans or anyone can start an online petition at Moveon.org. You might try that.

What am I going to do?  Hmmm, both Senators in MS are Republicans.  I might write to them and ask them to speak with some of their colleagues in the House.  My Representative in the House is a Democrat and he's already on board with these ideas.  I may send yet another letter to President Obama.  Mostly, I've been writing to President Obama about the VA so maybe he would be interested in hearing from me on another subject.  I like writing to my representatives in government.  That's what Whistleblowers do.

The bottom line is this: This problem was caused by Republican inaction.  If you don't like it, stand up and do something about it.

 

7 Jul 2014 BOS's Meeting and the Battle Arena

What needs to be said first is that the President of the Board of Supervisors needs to bone up on Robert's Rules of Order.  If one wants to place something on the published agenda, one needs to ask to amend the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.  It's about time you learned this James.

Okay, on to the discussion surrounding the Battle Arena.  A member of the Board of Directors of the Arena was recognized by the President of the BOSs when he was not listed on the agenda.  Further, after giving his report, this person kept getting up from his seat and interrupting the meeting.  So, why is that James?  You would have asked the Sheriff to remove anyone else who acted like this.

During his time at the podium this member of the Board of Directors from the Arena made several remarks that had nothing to do with the business at hand.  One of the remarks was directed to County Administrator Michael Thompson.  The Director said Michael didn't live here.  Now, I have been a big proponent of hire Tunica first.  However, I have come to realize this does not work in all cases.  We had a County Administrator who lived here and look at the mess we are in.  Besides, our last County Administrator was not a CPA.  Michael Thompson is a CPA.  Big difference.

The second remark had to do with an Arena employee who resigned because of the instability of the BOS.  Maybe this Director would like to research his statement a bit more to make sure he has all of the facts.

The third remark was directed to Comptroller Adrian McKay.  The Arena Director said he was one of the "officials" at the Arena and he was not notified when McKay met with Steve Sosebee.  The Arena Director clarified his statement by saying he was one of three officials at the Arena.  What the heck is all of this about?  Who said he was an Arena "official"?

Now let's get to his report.  Apparently, there were 25 pages to his report showing income at the Arena.  And this changes needing an Enterprise Fund how?  There wasn't one thing in this report that allowed the citizens of Tunica County to look at one account and see how the income and expenses for the Arena stacked up.  That's why we need an Enterprise Fund and that's why we need to change the way monies are handled at the Arena.

Letter to the Editor and Comment

This letter appeared in the Tunica Times on 4 Jul 2014.  There is a comment from the 7 Jul 2014 Board of Supervisors' Meeting below the letter.

30 Apr 2014

Hello Supervisors….

Just returned from a Board of Supervisors’ meeting that was very poorly attended.  Yes, it is the beginning of a holiday week.  That being said, your evening meetings have been very well attended.  So, I have to ask, what was the reason you changed the meetings in Jun and Jul to 9a?  Was it for your convenience?  You only have to look at the audience to see the results of this decision.

Now, on to the reason for this letter to the Editor:  This morning there was a discussion about bringing the Battle Arena income into General Accounting.  Supervisor Dunn and Supervisor Burnett seemed to be caught unaware that there was not a system in place to receipt the monies brought into the Arena and that the Arena Board of Directors were making decisions that were not approved by you the Tunica County Board of Supervisors.  Really?  And you’ve been on the BOS for how long?

And Supervisors Dunn and Burnett wanted the County Administrator to discuss recommendations with them before bringing them before the public.  Hey you two, we’ve had enough of you not wanting to have full discussions in a public meeting.  We want to know why recommendations are being made.  We want the facts, all of the facts.  We want Transparency.

Barbara Tuchel

Tunicans for Transparency in Government

End of letter...

Well, it didn't take long for Supervisor Dunn to go against his own request.  Towards the end of the 7 Jul 2014 meeting, Dunn brought up the subject of garbage collection fees.  Apparently, this was new information for Nickson, Daley and Williams.  King James strikes again.

Tunica County BOS Summer Schedule

ALL MEETINGS ARE AT 9a

12 Jun 2014

30 Jun 2014

7 Jul 2014

16 Jul 2014

31 Jul 2014

12 Jun 2014 BOS Meeting @ 9a

For everyone who doesn't know, the BOS Meetings have been changed back to 9a for the Summer.  So, the report I am posting here was not delivered because I missed this information.  This is just plain nuts.  We've being seeing more and more Tunicans at the evening meetings so why was this changed?  For the convenience of the Supervisors?

12 Jun 2014: Board of Supervisors’ Meeting @ 5p

Thank you for the appointment this evening.

The Transparency Committee would like to voice our concern over the $233,000 that was recently asked for by the Recreation Department for the purpose of funding their Summer Jobs Program.  Let’s call this what it is, a quarter of a million dollars.

We understood Tunica County’s financial position at the moment is requiring the funding for mostly “essential services.”  It is all well and good to have young people come to a Board meeting and tell us what their Summer Employment has meant to them over the years.  Many in the audience applauded their presentation.  I did not.  Why?  Because we were not telling these young people the truth.

The truth is: Our General Fund cannot afford this program this year.  What is wrong with telling these students the truth and asking them to volunteer their time in the Summer Jobs Program?

Okay, so you don’t like this idea.  How about this: The Board of Education has more then a few million dollars put away.  How about they pay for it this year?  Have you asked for their help?  And while we’re on the subject of the Board of Education, why not move the mentoring program to the school system so our Recreation Department can get back to developing “recreational” programs for all of our citizens…especially our Senior Citizens.

There are other possibilities to fund the Summer Jobs Program too.  It is my understanding there is a county in MS who applied for and received a grant to pay for their program.  I haven’t spent the time to investigate this possibility nor do I intend to do so.  But somebody needs to look into this possibility.  It needs to be the policy of this Board to make sure a Department head has exhausted every possibility for funding before they request undesignated funding from the County.

Insurance Rates

Updated 17 Jun 2014:  New information has been changed in the New UnitedHealthcare category below.  These rates are for Option 1.  We are not including Options 2 or 3 because these categories are offered to employees should they choose additional insurance.

To the best of my knowledge and from the printed information I have, these are the new insurance rates compared to the renewal rates with our former carrier.

Employee Only:
Renewal under Cigna: $762.95
New UnitedHealthcare: $696.62

Employee Spouse:
Renewal under Cigna: $998.16
New UnitedHealthcare: $883.77

Employee Child:
Renewal under Cigna: $950.54
New UnitedHealthcare: $847.34

Employee Family:
Renewal under Cigna: $1,175.90
New UnitedHealthcare: $1,026.53

I truly do not know what all the fuss is about.  Tunica County employees pay not one penny for their own insurance.  I've never heard of such a good deal for employees.