Brasher town highway workers to contribute to health costs

BRASHER FALLS — Members of the Teamsters union in the town's Highway Department will begin making contributions toward their health care under a new contract.

It took the efforts of a mediator to help finalize the contract between the town and union.

The employees will contribute 12 percent toward their health care costs in 2011 and 15 percent in 2012.

"People have to understand when health insurance was $135 a month for a family and then it ends up $1,500, you have to take a look at it," town Supervisor M. James Dawson Jr. said.

Even with the new provision in the contract, Mr. Dawson said, he had to do some juggling with numbers as he prepared his proposed budget for next year.

For example, the town will reduce attendance at conventions or meetings to once a year, unless it's training that the person is required to have by law, he said.

"I've cut down a little bit in highway in some areas. I'm plugging in $87,000 in surplus funds to keep taxes down," Mr. Dawson said.

Pay was frozen for town employees in the 2010 budget, but the supervisor said his proposal includes a "small percentage raise for most people."

He said the tax rate under his proposal will be about 2 cents less than last year.

"I've been able to lower taxes for any number of years. But the last couple of years, I've been trying to keep my nose above water," he said.

The town will hold its budget hearing Nov. 4 before officially adopting the spending plan. The current spending plan is $1,563,491, which includes the budgets for the highway and general funds, fire districts, the fire protection district, lighting districts and the sewer district in the hamlet of Brasher Falls.

The current tax rate for the town is $4.59 per $1,000 of assessed value.