Bath Supervisors Discuss Self Insurance For County Employees

Warm Springs, VA – With rising health insurance costs on the horizon for next year, the Bath Board of Supervisors discussed self insurance for county employees at its monthly meeting on Tuesday night. Supervisor Jon Trees explained that a self insurance health care insurance plan could be a savings for the county. Trees said he wanted to see figures from self insurance proposals for comparison.

He said the county’s insurance consultant said it would save money. Trees said this would be the year to go to self insurance because of the revenue the reassessment is going to bring in. The only cost to the county to get proposals would be the cost of advertising for them.

But Supervisor Stuart Hall said the county’s insurance consultant advised against using self insurance. Hall said the county doesn’t have the $300,000 necessary to put aside and save for the costs associated with self insurance. Hall also said he is not willing to pay for the advertising to seek proposals.

Supervisor Percy Nowlin said he’s concerned that if the county doesn’t put aside the money now, it will not be able to go back and do it later. He said the county has been talking about self insurance forever, but it was never pursued because the county has never had the money to do it. Nowlin said the money coming in this year from the reassessment won’t be back until the next reassessment.

Supervisor Carol Hardbarger felt the board needed more information about expenditures and possible revenues from the meals tax if it is raised to 4%. She made a motion to table the issue of self insurance. Supervisor Richard Byrd then made a substitute motion to not pursue self insurance this year and move the $300,000 for it to the contingency line item. That motion passed four to one with Supervisor Trees voting against it.

Supervisor Byrd said he’s been on the board for twenty years and has never seen a good year to go to self insurance.

Also on Tuesday night the first public hearing was held on redistricting. The recent census figures show that the Cedar Creek magisterial district has too many people while the Warm Springs district doesn’t have enough. There are two alternatives being considered.

The first is moving the area of the trailer park into the Warm Springs district and the second alternative is moving the area around the high school into the Warm Springs district. One speaker said it would make more sense for the area around the high school to be moved because that would make the polling place closer for those residents. Cedar Creek district residents vote at the Hot Springs firehouse, while Warm Springs district residents vote at Warm Springs Presbyterian Church. The second public hearing on redistricting will be held Monday night April 18 at 7 in room 115 of the courthouse. The board may take a vote then on which of the two alternatives to move into the Warm Springs District.

In other business Tuesday night the board approved a resolution to place handicapped parking spaces in front of the Hot Springs Pharmacy. The board appointed Gloria Lindsay and Mason Cauthorn to the Industrial Development Authority and Jeff Strasser was appointed to the Public Service Authority.