Police Dept. Heath Insurance

[Chuck]

Who should pay for the Police Dept. and City Workers Health Insurance?

The Peace Officers in Maysville, as we all know, are always doing a great job for us each and everyday. These individuals are dedicated, "True Professionals". Our City Police are some of the best trained in the State if not the Country.

They are under paid for what they do. If you think about it they are "The Final Element in Their Food Chain." (Quote me on that)

If you need help you can always call 911. When they need help, who can they call if no backup is available?

Now the rumor "I hear" is that only the Peace Officers are being ask to pay their Health Insurance. But I support all City Workers having Health Coverage as part of their compensation for work preformed.

Tell me your thoughts on this and tell your friends to "Take this Poll....

[jessica]

Everyone who works at a job in this country should have Health & Dental Insurance. The greatest health care problem we have in this country is that the non working class gets the best medical coverage and the working class gets the worse.

[mark]

...............with the rather "large" checking account the city has, they should already be paying the police insurance.

Yes, the city should...........and..........not raise our taxes any higher to pay for it either...............see ya Mark

[tkcomer]

Yes, the city should pick up the tab for this. The city is well known for not paying their employees a high salary no matter what job. Most work for the benefits and a lot have second jobs. If the city wants to compare what other departments are making their employees pay for insurance, maybe they should match those salaries.

[quiltingbee]

if the city can buy all the empty lots on west 4th for 30000-40000 each and do nothing with them and spend money on other stupid things, they can definitly pay for their insurance

[GirlColumbo]

what would any of us do without all of our city workers, police, fire, and our sanitation workers, bet we would miss them something terrible if we didnt have them. Absolutely the city should pay their health care, and pay it with a smile and a thank you for all you do

[TheMan]

What you have here, in effect, is a likely mass exodus. The insurance change affects ALL city employees. But the police are affected more so than most. Allow me to explain. The fire department (a very excellent fire department we have.) Works a 24 hour shift and off 48. That affords them opportunity to work other places, and MAYBE supplement their insurance costs. The public works, water and streets departments? While these gentlemen work very hard and are dedicated workers for the city, as underpaid as they are, they can be replaced rather easily. The police department? Heres what it takes to hire an officer:

Advertise for the job for one month.

Application acceptance month to a month and a half

Written examination (a month later)

Physical agility testing. (month in between)

Oral boards. (month in between)

Background check on qualified applicants (up to 3 months)

Polygraph test, psychological testing and Certified POPS agility testing (again a month in between)

Conditional offer of employment: (Month after that pass all of the above crap)

Hire date no less than 2 weeks after the acceptance of the offer of employment.

16 week academy ( 16 divided by 4 is 4 months)

Minimum 8 weeks of field training. ( yup thats two more months.)

I think thats it.


That's roughly 18 months before a police officer can be on the street on his own. Take away the 4 month academy if he is already certified. So for even a TRAINED officer ( which the city can not attract certified officer) your looking at over a year before you can even get him/her on the street.

I know for a fact that three of our fine officer are leaving for greener pastures. And I know of two more that say they can not afford the pay cut associated with the insurance increase. The city is really short on officer now, and those that are working, are working an unsafe amount of overtime to cover these streets, and do all that they can to keep us all safe. So how can we afford to loose even more?

The paper gave us a nice insight but were slightly misguided when they ran the first story. While every city employee will be effected, only members of the police department showed up to voice their concern.

Why don't you ask you fine city commissioners who I can two of them as saying : " Come to the meeting, tell them you won't stand for this price hike." One went so far as to say: " I WILL NOT vote yes for this insurance increase" Yet it passed by unanimous vote? Your problem isn't the lack of funds in the cities coffers. It's the lack of backbone from your ELECTED city commissioners.

[Chuck]

Nice, well researched post. You only for got 1 small thing. Peace Offices that are new hires sign a 3 year contract to get that 16 weeks of training. Some of these fine men are sorta stuck here.

They are professionals so you can rest assured they will do their jobs well. I would say they are probably not to happy.

[mark]

..............very well said, my friend & I agree!! Here's what
I said earlier & I still feel it's true still:

...............with the rather "large" checking account the city has, they should already be paying the police insurance.

Yes, the city should...........and..........not raise our taxes any higher to pay for it either...............see ya Mark


If they would stop buying useless properties & trees, they could afford even more officers for the streets.

Pay me now............or............pay me later.

City commissioners, which is it?? .................see ya Mark

[TheMan]

Chuck you are right.. BUT there is a loop hole..

When the city hired their last Certified officer, they essentially payed for him. By this I mean they bought out the rest of his 3 year contract. Why? Because it was a heck of allot cheaper and gets a fine, proven officer out on the street a lot quicker than a new hire. When the state first mandated this 3 year commitment most departments would not touch a new officer, until they were enlightened by the benefits of paying for a trained officer. And trust me. The officer the city "bought" was a very wise investment, simply because he's another fine officer to add to a very proffesional group, and he is home town, and will probably stay, no matter how much the city screws him.

Mark:

Thank you Mark.. And every word you post in most all thread I agree with. But the city explains this increase away as Reaccuring exspenses.. Where as the purchasing of useless lots, prettifying the dowtown area, and giving HUGE tax breaks to new buisness ventures a captial exspenses.

Yet I don't see why they can't cut costs in other areas to help fund the increase, NOT JUST FOR POLICE OFFICERS, but all city employees.

Just a side note:

The city says they are comparable in pay and benifits with most agencys in our area. OK fine a agree with that. But the city of Maysville has the ONLY self-supporting law enforcement agency with in 60 miles any direction. You go outside those 60 miles (IE northern KY, Lexington) and you will see that Maysville officer are,infact, paid FAR less ( at times 10 dollars an hour less) than those agencies. Oh and most offer full paid medical, dental and eye. The city doesn't even offer to give their employees the option of buy dental and eye.

[kdown]

How many people on here have gone to a City Commission meeting to voice their views on the subject ?

[OldDog]

But the city explains this increase away as Reaccuring exspenses.. Where as the purchasing of useless lots, prettifying the dowtown area, and giving HUGE tax breaks to new buisness ventures a captial exspenses.

And of that tax break that you mention $400,000 was given to the Ledger Independent to stay downtown. WHY? They move on the hill and they are still in the city and the city still collects taxes from them.
Also love the fact that they are opening the Conference Center downtown. WOW!! How many times a year will that facility be used? Not many I am sure.


Our tax dollars at work!

[canaco]

And of that tax break that you mention $400,000 was given to the Ledger Independent to stay downtown. WHY? They move on the hill and they are still in the city and the city still collects taxes from them.
Also love the fact that they are opening the Conference Center downtown. WOW!! How many times a year will that facility be used? Not many I am sure.


Our tax dollars at work!

400 large in tax money to a corperation out of Denver to stay in Maysville?

[memanannysue]

If police were allowed to ticket all the people who cross the double line to park on the opposite side of the street and ticket all people who park illegally on the yellow especially where there is a fire hydrant, there would be more than enough money to pay the insurance and add dental and vision. One other law ignored by many is not using turn signals and ignoring stop signs.

I wonder how they got their licenses. I remember having to take a written test and had to know all the above.

[TheMan]

In order to ticket all those minor offenses the police department would have to double or triple their current force. Besides the city does not get the money from state citations.. The State Police, court system, Sheriff's office, and county attorney gets the money.. The city parking violation runs no more than 3 to 5 dollars for the parking offenses you have listed.

[memanannysue]

The violations I was referring to are in the city. Maybe the city better increase the fines to about $50 for each offense. Try traveling in the dark on East Second St. and have someone parked illegally turn their headlights on just as you are approaching. NOT FUN. Has happened and the lights were on bright.

[TheMan]

I'm certainly not trying to argue with you, and I have went down 2nd St. at night and someone has been parked the wrong way on the street and has bright lighted me. I can not say that it isn't a problem. All I am saying is that a 3 dollar ticket isn't going to solve the problem. What's going to solve the problem is for the city and it's Representatives to stop lying to us by telling us the city is in the red. If that is the case why was it reported to have a 5 million dollar surplus last year? 20 thousand dollars out of that 5 million doesn't seem like a big chunk of change to pay for our officers' insurance..

[rgg]

If the police dept. would patrol 68 from the bottom of the hill to Washington rec park and catch 10% of the speeders they would make more than enough money for the city, and then the city could pay for their insurance . If they catch 30% of the speeders then who knows what the city could do with the excess money. They should do Jersey Ridge too...WOW do they speed across that road. I truly believe that I am the only person that actually obeys the speed limit. The vehicles with FOP tags also speed. Oops

[TheMan]

Besides the city does not get the money from state citations.. The State Police, court system, Sheriff's office, and county attorney gets the money.. The city parking violation runs no more than 3 to 5 dollars for the parking offenses you have listed.

I thought That I had mentioned that the city. did not get the money for state citations. Besides any money that they did get in the past did not go to the police anyway. It went into the cities general fund. Nice Idea, and in a realistic world it would be a viable solution. BUT again, if it were to happen, I'm sure there would be several posts on here about how the police are setting up "speed Traps" in our communities.. :rolleyes:

[Camaro_gal]

yes i think they should have to pay for it, like all the rest of the working people. From what i seen they dont even have to pay a high cost for it like the rest of us. I cannt even afford health ins. for my family. Let the city cops call around see how much it really is. they will stop crying over what they are asked to pay. A family of four is anywhere from 400 to 600 a month and that is with a high ded. How would they like to pay that?

[dpolley]

While it is a crying shame that anyone should go without health coverage, I'm in the group that believes that the Police should not have to pay for their coverage. As stated in previous postings, they put their lives on the line every time they put that uniform on, and we all know that the pay scale for this dept. is nothing compared to larger cities. Say what you want about the police, but before you do, would you be willing to do their job? Insurance is extremely expensive ($800+ monthly for the plan that my company has on its employees if we had to pay for it). However, I see no reason to expect the Police officers to "pay their own way". Call it a perk, call it whatever, but it is something that should be the city's pleasure and duty to pay. It's not like Maysville is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy!

[lbt1964]

I agree with dpolley all the way. I sure would not want their jobs!!!

[OldDog]

yes i think they should have to pay for it, like all the rest of the working people. From what i seen they dont even have to pay a high cost for it like the rest of us. I cannt even afford health ins. for my family. Let the city cops call around see how much it really is. they will stop crying over what they are asked to pay. A family of four is anywhere from 400 to 600 a month and that is with a high ded. How would they like to pay that?

Yeah and lets see how many jobs there are in Maysville were the competition is shooting at you?

To make matters worse, if you knew what these men and women were making for putting their lives in danger you would wonder why they do it at all.

Their salary was already a joke and now our GREAT (tongue in cheek) city commissioners want them to pay for their own insurance.

Hope none of the present commissioners waste their campaign money giving me a card or ink pen looking for a vote next time. Because they will be wasting their time asking for my vote.