Putnam Commission Votes To Fund Health Insurance Increase

The Putnam County Commission voted to fund a $625,000 employee health insurance increase Monday night.

The commission voted 15-3 to fund the employee portion of the increase.

“I think our prime asset inside the county has to be our employees,” County Executive Randy Porter said. “Pay has increased with all the new jobs coming into our county and some of those employees are looking elsewhere for jobs. We can’t afford to lose any of our good county employees.”

5th District Commissioner Bobby Williams had to abstain from voting due to a conflict of interest, but he voted against the increase as a member of the county budget committee.

“We are looking at a $650,000 increase in insurance that the taxpayers are going to have to pay and a $650,000 raise that we are going to have to pay,” Williams said. “Nowhere in the private sector would you get a raise and the company pay a huge insurance increase. It just wouldn’t happen. You would get one or the other.”

Three commissioners abstained from voting and three others commissioners were absent from the meeting.

Had the commission voted to not fund the increase, employees on the county’s family plan would have paid up to $68.87 extra per month.