Thread: Howard County Government Inflows in Trouble

The media and Howard County Elected Officials are once again banging their drums telling us how they will have to make cuts because their inflows or revenue are again dropping. Really? Just how bad is it? Is is bad enough yet for Howard County and the City of Kokomo that they will cut out the huge expense of part time appointed and elected officials getting full time insurance (health & life) insurance?

For those who do not know, the very part time workers called City Council Members and their very part time attorney as well as the part time Howard County prosecutors all get the same expensive healthcare insurance as full time employees courtesy of the Howard County taxpayers (you and me). In the case of the city council they voted to provide these benefits to themselves. Is this right? In tight economic times like these is this a fringe luxury that we can continue to provide? We cut firefighters, we don't give salary increases, we get rid of daycare, we reduce city and county services, and yet we find it necessary to provide health insurance to very part time people, all who also get very nice salaries for their part-time work and have outside full-time work or pensions.

So is this right? Are we going to continue to stand for it? My guess is yes. Why? Because the fox is guarding the hen house and things must not really be all that bad.

And these elected officials want to know why the public is cynical and pushing them all out?

HEY GUYS AND GALS LISTEN TO US - VOTE TO GET RID OF THIS EXPENSIVE AND UNNECESSARY COST FOR ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The media and Howard County Elected Officials are once again banging their drums telling us how they will have to make cuts because their inflows or revenue are again dropping. Really? Just how bad is it? Is is bad enough yet for Howard County and the City of Kokomo that they will cut out the huge expense of part time appointed and elected officials getting full time insurance (health & life) insurance?

For those who do not know, the very part time workers called City Council Members and their very part time attorney as well as the part time Howard County prosecutors all get the same expensive healthcare insurance as full time employees courtesy of the Howard County taxpayers (you and me). In the case of the city council they voted to provide these benefits to themselves. Is this right? In tight economic times like these is this a fringe luxury that we can continue to provide? We cut firefighters, we don't give salary increases, we get rid of daycare, we reduce city and county services, and yet we find it necessary to provide health insurance to very part time people, all who also get very nice salaries for their part-time work and have outside full-time work or pensions.

So is this right? Are we going to continue to stand for it? My guess is yes. Why? Because the fox is guarding the hen house and things must not really be all that bad.

And these elected officials want to know why the public is cynical and pushing them all out?

HEY GUYS AND GALS LISTEN TO US - VOTE TO GET RID OF THIS EXPENSIVE AND UNNECESSARY COST FOR ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS.

You are on the right track. Keep digging, there is more waste. The public is not hurting enough to back you, yet. When the pain is great enough, they will listen. You will be labled a trouble maker or radical. Keep it up. Good people need to stand up, be heard and counted. Stand firm. Does the County Counsel also get health care? Thank you

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are on the right track. Keep digging, there is more waste. The public is not hurting enough to back you, yet. When the pain is great enough, they will listen. You will be labled a trouble maker or radical. Keep it up. Good people need to stand up, be heard and counted. Stand firm. Does the County Counsel also get health care? Thank you

There is enough pain. The problem is there is a lack of knowledge in our residents/voters because the media is not sticking like a fly on stories like this until the elected officials back down.

YES the part-time elected county council and county commissioners also get full-time taxpayer provided healthcare benefits. A real shame in this time of asking others to cut.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

There is enough pain. The problem is there is a lack of knowledge in our residents/voters because the media is not sticking like a fly on stories like this until the elected officials back down.

YES the part-time elected county council and county commissioners also get full-time taxpayer provided healthcare benefits. A real shame in this time of asking others to cut.

How can the pain be enough, when the local gov't is spending money on non essentials, such as run abouts, bumb outs and flowers. They keep spending money for their friends, not looking out for public. If they were doing their jobs, they would have known last year that business was going to re-value their personal property. Do people believe Howard county was the first placse this occured. I get it, another Kokomo First. Research and see what you find. Then ask why the county and city did not already have a plan. Keep going you are on the right track. Be prepared though, when you go public you will have personal attacks by the office holders. Their are members on the counsil that will want to publicily destroy you. Have fun. It needs to happen for the good of the public.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The media and Howard County Elected Officials are once again banging their drums telling us how they will have to make cuts because their inflows or revenue are again dropping. Really? Just how bad is it?

How bad is it? I think the question is flawed.

I challenge those officials and candidates involved in local government who call themselves fiscal conservatives to abandon this kind of language.

What we're seeing here is an opportunity to prune government back to a reasonable size. People have to realize this isn't a temporary cut... it is the new normal.

Can we do all we want to do? Of course we can. It will just take community partnerships. If we allow our private sector to thrive, it will. If we work together to address our current problems, rather than throwing federal grants at them, we'll be in pretty good shape.

Everyday, I hear more and more members of the community coming to this realization. I think good things are going to start happening pretty soon as long as local government gets out of the way and allows the community to take the lead.

Yeah... that's right. I'm an optimist all of the sudden.

Good to see the Perspective this week pick up on our idea of part-time elected officials not getting full time benefits like health insurance. Now stick with it. Let us know how people vote on this and what they say. Turn them into headlines and cartoons. As you point out there is a huge conflict of interest because the very people voting are the ones who are part-time and getting these expensive full-time benefits. How Papacheck, Wyman, Miller, Karickhoff and others vote will tell us how bad the financial problems really are.

Honor, Honesty and Integrity.

That is no more and no less than we should expect from our elected leaders.

I went over to our County Budget Database and did a quick search on the word 'insurance'.

The entry I found that (I think) deals with this cost has a budgeted amount of nearly $1.8 million...

If you do the percentages... that's a pretty huge chunk of the County General Fund... about 9.8 percent.

Interestingly... that's not all. Using the database, here's a screenshot of other insurance funding for other programs and coming from other funds:



NIK

Originally Posted by notinkokomo

I went over to our County Budget Database and did a quick search on the word 'insurance'.

The entry I found that (I think) deals with this cost has a budgeted amount of nearly $1.8 million...

If you do the percentages... that's a pretty huge chunk of the County General Fund... about 9.8 percent.

Interestingly... that's not all. Using the database, here's a screenshot of other insurance funding for other programs and coming from other funds:



NIK

You seem to suggest that we should cut off insurance for these people. The jobs you have listed are not high paying jobs, and these people could not afford to pay for the cost of health care, so, what is your solution?