To the Editor, 

I read with great disappointment the article on page 1 of the January 6 Beacon, “Not This Time” where our city council voted down Councilman Ed Ladouceur’s ordinance to rein in the cost of skyrocketing retiree health care costs. Currently, excluding teachers, all city retirees receive lifetime health insurance at no cost. The cost to the taxpayers for this benefit is $23,000 per family plan without any deductibles.

It was disappointing that Councilman Ladouceur’s ordinance, which was a fiscally responsible step for the city to take so that future taxpayer funds could be redirected to fund repairs and improvements to our failing infrastructure was voted down by the city council.  

As taxpayers, we have watched our property taxes increase year after year and what have we received in return? Other than basic services, we have watched our schools and many other city buildings deteriorate into a state of disrepair, city vehicles including sanitation trucks and ambulances constantly breaking down, recreational facilities worn out and poorly maintained, as well as many streets strewn with potholes and weeds.

 The current city budget includes health insurance costs of $24.8M. Of this amount, $13.7M is for active employees and $11.1M is for retirees. One line item in the city budget for $24.8M is staggering. Where, we as taxpayers, should all be concerned is that this number continues to grow at an alarming rate and that many experts including outside accountants and actuaries hired by the city all agree that for the city to continue to provide no cost lifetime health insurance to city retirees is unsustainable.

Despite the above numbers and multiple warnings by outside experts, the mayor negotiated contracts that were voted on in September, 2021 that continued to provide retirees with no cost lifetime health insurance, which with the exception of Councilman Ladouceur were approved by the city council.

The solution to this issue is not difficult. A cost sharing agreement that is fair to both the taxpayers and city retirees would go a long way towards resolving the financial problems the city and taxpayers are heading to if we can’t come up with a fair and reasonable way to share retiree medical costs.

Councilman Ladouceur’s ordinance was fair to all parties including taxpayers and city retirees. The proposal required most future retirees to make co-pays for their health care costs and for most of those currently retired, provided for a 5-year phase in of co-pays with amounts less than what the general public pays for their Medicare co-pays.

Like all of us, city retirees deserve quality health care insurance, but at a cost both they, the city and taxpayers can afford. Unfortunately, no cost health care is no longer sustainable. Sharing these costs between retirees and the taxpayers will allow the city to avoid future fiscal problems as well as contributing more funds to our failing infrastructure. I would hope the mayor and the city council would agree, and as stewards of the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars take responsible action to resolve this issue rather than leaving it for the next generation to resolve. 

Bill Friedman

Warwick