By Brian M. Boyce
TERRE HAUTE — County employees brought emotion the floor Tuesday night as they informed the Vigo County Council of a recent development threatening to “carve out” spousal insurance coverage in about two months time.
County employee Cheryl Loudermilk was among those informing the council of the move, which she and her husband, Terre Haute City Councilman Norm Loudermilk, said would significantly change their payment plans, compounding the fact that employees will get no raise.
The “carve out,” commissioner Paul Mason explained, is the result of council-requested budget cuts and its details were not known about until just recently, leaving the employees with about two months notice.
Employees’ spouses who have the opportunity to take coverage at their job will have to take that or be dropped, Mason said, noting that those spouses not offered coverage can remain. However, some employers are balking at putting the spouses onto their rolls given the time frame and similar measures being taken there. Spouses unable to get onto the employers’ plan should remain on the county’s in the meantime, he said. However, budget cuts are to blame, he said, reiterating the theme of the night.
Few details were available on the move and council members questioned whether changes could be made to avoid the carve out, directing the auditor’s office to report back with more information.
In addition to approving wage scales and salaries for county offices, the council responded to a request issued Sept. 2 by Vigo County Clerk Pat Mansard regarding darkened positions in her department.
“We cannot do the work of the court with too few people,” Mansard said during one of several emotional exchanges Tuesday evening at a two-hour meeting.
Mansard’s office has lost seven positions and she requested three be reinstated.
“I’m asking for fairness and justice for the people who work for your courts,” she said during an impassioned speech from the public podium. In reference to an earlier announcement by Sheriff Jon Marvel that the jail population topped 316 Monday — 48 over the federally-imposed maximum — Mansard said the courts are swollen with work in “the meth capital of the world” while staffing is being cut. An increase in bankruptcies, divorces, crimes and other court business has her workers drowning, she said. Two rows of clerks stood in unison at Mansard’s request in a show of support for the return of three positions. “I’m not asking for new money,” she said, noting those jobs had been previously budgeted.
In response to the request, the council approved one “roving court clerk,” a move to which Mansard was visibly displeased.
But, as Marvel noted, medical costs for jail inmates soared from a budgeted $350,000 to $700,000 in 2009 — a figure he said after the meeting will at least be repeated in 2010. Councilman Mark Bird read off a list of procedures provided for one anonymous inmate. The procedures ranged from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands, and Marvel said another inmate’s open heart surgery cost the county upwards of $200,000 last year.
“That’s where your money’s going,” Councilman Brad Anderson said, describing it as a serious problem imposed on the majority by a small group.
Also during the meeting, Marvel made public his desire to classify the weight-loss product ephedra as “prescription-only” in Vigo County to help combat methamphetamine production. In counties already enacting the measure ephedra sales have dropped dramatically, he said.
Methamphetamine use seems to have surged again, he said, noting the return of “meth babies” to hospital delivery rooms and the recent influx of inmates.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
