Chicago Ridge Village Board plans to amend ordinance granting generous insurance benefits to current and former elected officials
Chicago Ridge trustees have agreed to amend a controversial ordinance providing generous insurance coverage to elected officials to deny the benefits to future trustees and possibly also those current ones who are not enrolled.
Mayor Charles Tokar on Tuesday night also appointed two trustees, Sally Durkin and Fran Coglianese, to an ad hoc committee that will explore the legality of eliminating the insurance coverage for past and current village board members.
Tokar said he met with three law firms and decided on Odelson and Stark to serve as legal counsel to the committee. The firm also works for the village on planning and zoning issues.
Tokar said that, based on his meetings with the lawyers, he expected that the committee would be able to make a recommendation to the village board within 30 days
“We hope to get some resolution to this entire health insurance issue, especially as to what we can legally do and what we legally cannot do,” he said.
The insurance coverage — medical, dental, vision and life — was an issue in this spring’s trustee election.
The policy has been in effect since 1989, and anyone who has served at least a four-year term as mayor, clerk or trustee and won election to a new term is eligible for the coverage — not only for as long as they serve but for as long as they live. And if a former elected official dies, the coverage automatically transfers to the spouse.
There appeared to be confusion Tuesday night on whether the amended ordinance would apply to only future trustees or also to those now on the board who are not taking the coverage or who are not yet eligible. Another issue is whether the mayor and clerk, who are full-time employees, would still qualify for the insurance after leaving office.
Durkin said the proposed amendment is a “good-faith effort” toward resolving the health care issue. She said she would like to see the benefit eliminated for current trustees unless they pay for it entirely.
She and Coglianese said they were going into the committee meetings with the goal of eliminating the insurance plan for trustees as much as legally possible.
The village pays $5,705 per month to cover eight elected officials — mayor, clerk and six trustees — and $5,500 per month for former elected officials, who now number six and the widow of a former trustee, according to village records. That comes to $134,460, or 1 percent of Chicago Ridge’s $13.5 million budget this fiscal year.
The village pays 80 percent of the coverage if a current or former village official is privately employed and 100 percent if they are not.
Tokar said he expected that the amendment would appear on the agenda of the May 19 village board meeting.
Five of the seven members of the public who spoke on the insurance issue Tuesday night questioned the need for such benefits for the part-time trustees and the costs to the village. Some suggested having a member of the public included on the ad hoc committee.
After the meeting, Tolar said he would look into the idea but wasn’t sure if it would be legal to do so.
