County delays vote on retirement benefits for managers
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MAYVILLE - County managers are going to have to wait a little longer to see if they can get retirement health benefits as good as some union employees.
For the second month in a row the Chautauqua County Legislature has tabled a vote amending a local law which would permit a retiring manager to receive paid health insurance coverage after retirement at the rate which matches that of the highest service-related calculation afforded within any county union collective bargaining unit agreement.
Before the vote took place Matt Stuczynski of Dunkirk, who is the warden of the county jail, spoke to the legislature in favor of the move.
"What we’re asking for is equality towards the unions with our group," he said.
He also said the managers aren't seeking additional benefits.
"There was a perception that managers are cherry-picking benefits to bring forward to the legislature. I just wanted to assure you guys that is not the case. Managers' benefits are only a handful compared to the union CBAs (Collective Bargaining Agreements) and the only way those get changed are through executive policy bulletins or local laws," he said.
During the debate on the floor, Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield, expressed his opposition.
"I'm going to vote no on this. ... A better way to do this would be to come back to committee, come back to the legislature through HR (Human Resources) or the county executive and let's look at the entirety of the compensation packages," he said.
When the time came to vote on the local law, the legislature at that point had not yet voted on the county budget.
Legislator Bob Bankoski, who was planning on asking the vote on the county budget be delayed, said he wanted to deal with the budget first. He asked the vote be tabled, which was unanimously approved.
Bankoski's proposal to delay a county budget vote failed, but by that time the local law had already been tabled and will be brought back next month.
In September other managers had argued that there are county employees who are reluctant to become managers because the retirement benefits are better for union employees than for those who supervise them. The legislature delayed that vote at Johnson's request.