Selectmen talk $$$, health insurance biggest issue

The Norwood Board of Selectmen met with nearly all the general government department heads on Tuesday to go over the Townside of the budget (not including schools).

Town Manager Tony Mazzucco ran through each line item with costs and increases (or decreases in some cases) but highlighted health insurance as the biggest X factor for the Town. The overall budget increase for the Town and school budgets is looking at 4.5 percent, but he said this year will see a 10.8 percent increase – about $2.2 million – in health insurance costs based on current estimates. He stipulated, however, that the state has not released its numbers for the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) and there could be a large swing in that number.

“The GIC is meeting on the 12th to make some final decisions,” he said. “There could be potentially be a large swing there. They are projecting an 11 percent increase, but depending on what plan design changes they adopt, it could go as low as six. We have to then take that and adopt it to our plans and see how it works, but that delta between 11 percent and 6 percent is potentially millions of dollars, so that number may go up or may go down.”

With that expected 11 percent increase and all other things being equal, Mazzucco and Finance Director Jeffrey O’Neill said the Town is looking at using $7.7 million in free cash to stabilize the budget this year. It should be noted, however, that there is a plan to put a public safety tax override into this year’s Town Meeting and summer ballot vote for $2.1 million, which is not a part of free cash (though dependent on this override is about $200,000 in free cash would be used for one-time purchases).

A budget override is when a municipality asks voters to increase the tax levy beyond the 2.5 percent state law Prop 2.5 requires as the maximum in a given year.

Mazzucco said there have been repeated 10 percent increases over the years on health insurance, and though he said he didn’t have a total for the number of employees that use that health insurance, it’s a good deal of the Town’s 1,100 employees. He said this is probably the biggest factor in the push for an operational override – separate from the public safety override mentioned above – that the Town is likely going to start the process for next year.

“It’s always worth pointing out that this number (the $22 million) is larger than the public safety budgets, and so one of the reasons we have a problem with Prop 2.5 – everyone says, ‘Well can’t you live within Prop 2.5?’ if health insurance went up 2.5 percent every year? I don’t think we’d ever need an override,” he said. “It’s just at 10 percent every year. We’ve done the math over the last four years and these increases are eating about half the cost-of-living adjustment we’ve given to employees.”

Selectman Michael Saad asked about finding a different insurer or creating a municipal insurance plan, run by the Town. Mazzucco said they would have to do a lot of work to make that happen, as right now the GIC is providing more care costs than Norwood is giving it, and private insurers would not take on that kind of risk. He said to do that they would have to convince Town employees to use their spouses’ plans or otherwise find other insurance, which would have to be done through individual or union negotiations. He said it could be done, but it would take about five-to-seven years, so not something to help in the current situation. As far a the municipal health insurance, it would now be much more than the GIC.

The other big budget item that’s going to see a change – and you might have guessed this – is snow and ice. Mazzucco said they don’t have final numbers yet, as winter is still here, but he said they expect to exceed the current budgeted amount, though he pointed out that the Town hasn’t had a real winter for years and in previous budget cycles Norwood didn’t come close.

In other news, Selectmen Vice Chair Bill Plasko came to the meeting for the first time in a couple of months. The Record previously reported – https://tinyurl.com/45urafz5 – Plasko announced that he was stepping down from the Board in April, citing health issues. However, he said he will not be stepping down from working for the Town.

“Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he said with a laugh. “While I no longer can maintain the energy level and time commitment I have in the past required of myself to do the job on the Board of Selectmen, I do hope to find another position to continue to be involved in our Town, perhaps special study committees or single-focus committees that will be easier to concentrate on rather than the constant barrage of varying matters the Selectmen must deal with.”

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Also at the meeting, Mazzucco updated the Board on two ongoing issues at the Town Hall. Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed the Board has been meeting in the Robert M. Thornton Conference Room on the first floor of Town Hall – Room 24 – instead of the Harry B. Butters Chambers on the second floor. That is because the elevator – replaced six years ago – has been out of service. Mazzucco said it will cost upwards of $100,000 to replace.

He said also the steam pipe running under the Town Hall needs to be replaced.

“It’s more patch than pipe at this point,” he said. “We just can’t keep putting more gaskets over it to keep plugging the leaks… I’m not as upset about that than I am about the six-year-old elevator.”

Mazzucco said that is not expected to exceed $100,000, but not expected to be much lower than that either. He said the Town is looking at a full system replacement – and is looking to upgrade the electrical and other systems to boot, since they’re almost 100 years old as well as the heating and need it – in about five years. He said that will require the Town Hall to be shuttered for about two years.

Also at the meeting the Board noted that Norwood Trails Advisory Committee Chair and co-founder Joseph Greeley has moved to Dover, New Hampshire, to be with his family, and voted unanimously to draft a letter of appreciation for his work in Norwood.