{"id":212186,"date":"2026-11-10T21:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T02:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=212186"},"modified":"2026-11-10T21:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T02:33:19","slug":"council-to-decide-on-health-insurance-premium-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/11\/10\/council-to-decide-on-health-insurance-premium-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Council to decide on health insurance premium change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all goes as expected, Van Wert city employees will pay a smaller share of health insurance premiums next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the city pays 87 percent of health insurance premiums for its employees, with the workers covering the remaining 13 percent. During Monday night\u2019s meeting of Van Wert City Council, a resolution was introduced to establish rates for employee contributions in the city\u2019s healthcare program and Health Savings Account (HSA) program for calendar year 2027. The resolution includes a reduction in employee contributions, from 13 percent to three percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest complaint I have gotten since I\u2019ve been here the last four years is insurance,\u201d City Auditor Erika Blackmore explained to council members. \u201cI crunched the numbers, I looked at it (and) with the amount of people that take the insurance versus what we\u2019re paying for insurance, it really wasn\u2019t that much more to go employer-pay 97 percent, employee pay three percent. So it\u2019s one thing that in administration we decided to do to give back to our employees because we don\u2019t want to lose what we have \u2013 we have a very good workforce right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt used to be you\u2019d work for the government because the benefits outweighed the pay but you can\u2019t really say that anymore with the pay not up with standards,\u201d she continued. \u201cBenefits aren\u2019t really there so I figured it\u2019s just one more way to make it more intriguing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councilwoman At-Large Jana Ringwald asked how employee healthcare contributions compare to other municipalities, and Blackmore used a similar sized, statutory city \u2013 Upper Sandusky \u2013 as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey actually pay 100 percent of their premiums, 100 percent of their maximum out of pocket and 100 percent of their deductibles,\u201d Blackmore stated. \u201cThat\u2019s just one community but it\u2019s very common for municipalities\u2026they\u2019re very generous with their healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackmore also noted that health insurance premiums are increasing by four percent citywide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very good compared to other communities and municipalities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Erika Blackmore <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A motion was made and approved to prepare healthcare legislation. It\u2019s expected to be on the next agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council approved a pair of \u201cthen and now\u201d invoices presented by Blackmore. One was for $20,958.20 to Young\u2019s Waste for the city\u2019s trash voucher program that was offered in September. The other was for $47,906.50 to Choice One Engineering for engineering services for the Bonnewitz Ave. extension and the Production Drive project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three pieces of legislation were approved on their third and final reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • An ordinance allowing Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming to live just outside the city limits once his new home is built.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • An ordinance amending sections of an existing ordinance dealing with door-to-door sales.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • An ordinance amending the city\u2019s junk and rubbish law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    As expected, second reading was held for annexation and rezoning requests for approximately 684 acres of of land in Ridge Township adjoining the Mega Site on the city\u2019s north side, and approximately 156 acres of land in Pleasant Township that adjoins the Industrial Park area on the city\u2019s south side. If approved on third and final reading at the next meeting, both would be annexed into the city and rezoned to I-2 General Industrial. The 684 acre site has 25 parcels owned by 20 people, while the 156 acre site is owned by Charles and Barbara Purmort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Main Street Van Wert Executive Director Mitch Price addressed council and made his annual funding request, $26,500. Price outlined the various programs and offerings offered by MSVW this year and said the organization is trying to increase visibility. Council later granted his request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before adjourning, council went into executive session with Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation Brent Stevens, but no action was taken outside of adjournment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 23, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor If all goes as expected, Van Wert city employees will pay a smaller share of health insurance premiums next year. Currently, the city pays 87 percent of health insurance premiums for its employees, with the workers covering the remaining 13 percent. During Monday night\u2019s meeting of Van Wert City Council, a resolution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-18 01:23:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212186"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212192,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212186\/revisions\/212192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}