Newburgh to restore health insurance for new council members

NEWBURGH – When the Newburgh
City Council adopts the 2018 budget next Monday, it will include funding
to pay for health insurance for the three new council members who take
office in January.
The city manager’s budget as proposed had originally stipulated
coverage only after members serve eight years – that’s two
terms, but current members balked. Initial figures had indicated as much
as $100,000 to cover the insurance costs, but City Comptroller Katie Mack
now said that number is significantly lower – just a couple of thousand
dollars above current costs.
“We have had changes to health insurance because the final numbers have come in,” Mack told council members this week. “The final retirement numbers have come in, so there is a multitude of changes because we have final numbers. In October when we provided the manager’s proposal to you, there is a lot of guesswork,”
Councilman Torrance Harvey went on a tirade, saying City Manager Michael Ciaravino “disrespected” members by not initially mentioning his proposed health insurance provision and failing to include a $1,000 stipend to current members who have other health insurance, like Harvey.
Under the current budget plan, homestead property taxes would decrease by four cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation while non-homestead taxes would increase by 33 cents.