The 2018-2019 budget proposal will be presented to the Board at the June 12 meeting. The April 2017 levy passage continues to play a major role in allowing us to run a balanced budget (something that hadn't been done in 10 years prior to the levy passage). This is important as our fund balances had been spent down in previous years to a point where major budget cuts were imminent had the levy not passed.
I believe employees are the most important part of our organization and I will always do as much as possible regarding salary and benefits while remaining fiscally responsible. My recommendation to the Board will include steps and movement and $125 per cell to the teacher salary schedule. It also includes making some needed changes to the classified salary schedule to allow various employees to work toward being 'on market' as compared to staff in area Districts. In order to improve salaries, the District has to evaluate our approach to benefits, especially health insurance. I am proud of the health insurance benefits that Fort Osage provides employees, but the cost in recent years is having an ever-increasing impact on our budget (see below for the history of health insurance costs). As compared to metro districts, Fort Osage is one of a select few who offer a PPO (non-high deductible plan) as a base plan. Further, the base plan that Fort offers is more rich (lower deductibles and lower out of pocket costs) than most other districts. Additionally, Fort Osage contributes more money to employees’ Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) than 32 area districts (only one metro District contributes more). The current budget proposal recommends the District makes the same contribution toward insurance as the current year ($581.30). This is being done as our current estimated increase is 7%, which would be an additional cost of $246,000. Once our premium increase is known in October, the insurance committee and I will determine specific plans and the coverage they provide. Rest assured that the health coverage offered to Fort Osage staff will still be better than most of the area districts, and the District will include a variety of plans to choose from and continued contributions to HSAs. Go365 participation is critical as it continues to buy down our increase and maximize the value of the District’s contribution to insurance. In order to have additional buy down of our rate increase, we are encouraging staff to work toward Gold and Platinum status. If you have any questions regarding this process you may contact Laura Ford. Fort's Cost for Insurance 2007 $1,865,760 2009 $2,633,280 2011 $2,763,384 2013 $3,041,563 2015 $3,351,499 2017 $4,017,994 Comments are closed.
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