Lyndonville district should seek financial sustainability by reducing health insurance costs

Editor:

I am writing again regarding the Lyndonville Board of Education. Some might wonder why the Lyndonville Teachers’ Association (LTA) worked so hard to get certain board members elected. The answer is simple— this year the LTA is negotiating their collective bargaining agreement.

The three incumbents who were defeated worked for the taxpayers of the community to provide the best education possible, while striving to be the best stewards of the taxpayers’ money, through fiscal responsibility. They drew a line in the sand with spending by following  the contract and seeking healthcare options in an attempt to keep costs down.

Article 7.01.05 Subsection A of the current collective bargaining agreement clearly states “The Lyndonville Teachers’ Association will assist the Board of Education to reduce the health insurance costs by examining other health insurance programs.” (The complete collective bargaining agreement can be found by clicking here.) Meanwhile, the current school board president was quoted in the Orleans Hub stating “we should not be looking at healthcare again.” Healthcare costs for school employees are exorbitant— this is exactly where the Board of Education should be looking to reduce costs.

At one point, the LTA was requesting a 5 percent raise each year, between 2024 and 2027, resulting in a cumulative 15 percent over those three years. This would be a cumulative cost of $2,909,609.00 to taxpayers, over the course of the three years. Even a 3 percent annual increase over the three years would cost well over $2,000,000.

Some might find it ironic that I personally have no problem with the LTA asking for a 3 percent or 5 percent raise. Being a union employee, I understand (although, in my experience, a union typically “gives something up” in exchange for those kind of raises). However, as a taxpayer, I am seriously concerned.

Without a reduction in costs elsewhere (specifically health insurance), these rising costs are not sustainable, especially as the smallest school district in the county. The Board of Education has an obligation to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. In today’s economy, the average taxpayer cannot afford the ever increasing taxes to keep up with fiscally irresponsible spending.

I worked in a school district for three school years. I’ve seen first hand the challenges teachers face. It’s a challenging and often thankless job. Teachers deserve to be fairly compensated. That is not what this is about. The issue at hand is the Board of Education needs to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. Just as we would expect of the Village Board, Town Board and County Legislature.

Respectfully,

James C. White

Lyndonville