PID moves closer to eliminating director health benefits
PARADISE » The Paradise Irrigation District voted unanimously on Wednesday night to direct staff to prepare a change in district policy that would illuminate health benefits for division directors.
The move came after board president Mark Sulik, the longest-standing director on the board, asked the board to discuss the possibility.
Sulik, in presenting his idea to his fellow division directors, said that it would set a great example for the rest of the district.
“My reasoning is that we are always looking at the budget we are always looking to save costs,” he said. “It’s low hanging fruit, it’s an opportunity to save money and set a good example in not taking health benefits.”
He also pointed out that getting health benefits to the PID could be an attraction for some candidates in the future to run for a seat.
“I’ve heard in the past that there of been people who have run for office just to get the benefits,” he said. “In some of these positions.”
Division 3 Director Shelby Boston pointed out that the proposal by the board president would focus solely on health benefits.
She told her fellow division directors that looking at the budget it was costing about the district about $30,000 a month in medical benefits alone across the entire employee spectrum.
She noted that while not everyone on the board is currently taking health benefits, if all five were to take benefits down the road it could add an extra $10,000 a month in medical costs to the district.
And with an election coming up, Boston said the timing is perfect for such a decision.
“We would want anyone new who was seated to understand that they won’t have that benefit in front of them,” she said.
There are three candidates vying for an open Division 2 seat on the board, they are former Division 5 Director Bill Kellogg, Alan Hinman, Jr, and Fred Hayden.
The subject of health benefits has come up in past years, but the vote on Wednesday night was as close as the PID had to eliminate the benefit.