Mayoral Candidate Questions City's Health Care Costs

This is an update to an earlier letter regarding the City’s health care plan which covers both active and retired city teachers and city employees. Apparently, if you listen to the Mayor (Kevin Dumas) and the Municipal Council, Attleboro is the only community in the state of Massachusetts that doesn’t have a cost problem here and therefore there is no need to scrutinize or openly discuss this issue. This is ridiculous.

At the Public Hearing on the budget held in June a member of the public asked the Council how much was budgeted for City Heath Care costs. No one on the Council had an answer. No answer or discussion has been forthcoming since. Further, the Sun reporter covering the meeting apparently didn’t think the question deserved to be mentioned nor discussed for he never reported it in his columns relating to the Public Hearing. Apparently he is as mesmerized by the Mayor’s number crunching as the Council is.

Well then, how much does Attleboro spend on Health Care costs?  Per the Mass DOR (Department of Revenue) website this amount was in excess $14,000,000 for the FY2010 based upon numbers supplied by the City.

However, the city uses the “pay as you go” payment method which is not sufficient to pay for obligated, but unfunded costs as explained in the City Audit Reports for the years FY2009 and FY2010.

I strongly recommend that the Council read and scrutinize these reports and discuss them in open session. Unfunded debt for the Health Care Plan which amounted to $43,000,000 at the end FY2010 will exceed $60,000,000 at the close of FY2011 and $80,000,000 as of June 30, 2012. Openness, transparency, candidness on this issue is absolutely necessary if the City is to even begin to deal with this long- term financial issue. We can’t continue to kick the can down the road as the present Mayor is accustomed to do. 

Ronald M. Churchill

Candidate for Mayor