Clinton County Fiscal Court, meeting for the first time in 2014 during its regular session last Thursday evening, January 16, dealt with a variety of topics. All members were present for the meeting which lasted just over an hour.

The court first approved the monthly and quarterly treasurer’s reports, as well as fund transfers, including one cash transfer, submitted by County Treasurer Dallas Sidwell. They also voted to pay claims and bills, including the bill for new road department equipment, all by unanimous votes.

Second reading of the interlocal agreement pertaining to patrolling authority between the Clinton and Wayne County Sheriff’s Department was also approved.

Paul Brown of Gaddie-Shamrock was on hand at the meeting to discuss county roads that will be repaired with FLEX fund revenue.

Judge/Executive Lyle Huff informed the court that after discussions with Department of Transportation officials and State Senator Sara Beth Gregory, there was a good chance the county could receive an allotment of up to $220,000–in addition to the $135,000 in FLEX funds already awarded, to do road work.

Judge Huff said six roads were already approved for repairs with the discretionary fund allotment and with the extra funds, more roads in some magisterial districts could be repaired, above those already submitted by magistrates and approved by the state.

A motion was made to accept the plan to repair the six roads and magistrates will submit roads in their district in most need of repairs that may be funded with the added discretionary fund money.

County Clerk Shelia Booher then addressed the court requesting they approve a budget amendment for her office.

Booher told the court the office was out more than budgeted, but added when funds come in after the current budget is amended, her office may be able to turn over up to around $20,000 to the county in excess fees. A motion to approve the budget amendment was made by Magistrate Hershell Key and passed by unanimous vote.

On a motion by Magistrate Terry Buster, the court voted to advertise for bids for an ambulance. Director of Emergency Services Lonnie Scott said they usually advertise for two weeks prior to the date of the bid opening, with advertising to be this month and bids to be opened in February.

The board then accepted Judge Huff’s recommendation for the appointment of two members, Lynn Conner and Anna Norris, to the County Extension Service Board.

Jason and Buddy Brown then addressed the court once again about an ongoing issue of speeding on the road which they reside. They again requested that speed bumps be placed on the dead-end road to help cut down on the speeding for safety reasons.

Jason Brown called the issue a “public safety concern” on the approximate three-quarter of a mile road, noting again his service dog had been hit and killed by a vehicle on the road. He went on to say that some motorists are doing things to “agitate” the situation, making it even more dangerous, adding, “…all because we’re asking for common courtesy.”

Buddy Brown said the county should pass some type of ordinance pertaining to the matter and also touched on an issue where water runs off the bypass and freezes onto the roadway, making it a travel hazard.

Following the discussion, County Attorney Michael Rains said the county road foreman could make a recommendation for speed bumps. However, Judge Huff deferred making any recommendation until the matter could be reviewed further, but told Brown that he would make a recommendation on the issue “within 30 days.”

Pastor Bobby Grant then addressed the court pertaining to a couple of matters at the Wellness Center.

Grant said that Green Construction Company had recommended that a fan be installed over the pool area, with the cost being around $15,000. However, he said there may be enough funds remaining from the construction grant to take care of that cost.

He further informed the court that the transition from propane gas to natural gas was underway and (gas) lines were being laid. Grant also thanked the court for their assistance in helping keep the facility open during recent difficult financial times.

Grady Wilson with CWI Insurance of Whitley City, which has been a consultant for the county for the past few years in regards to employee health insurance plans, addressed the court about some issues county government needed to know going into the year when the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare, actually goes into effect.

The current county policy ends in late March or early April and Wilson said by early February he would have some more set prices and quotes from perspective insurance carriers for the county to consider when taking up the issue of offering health insurance for their employees.

The court may have a special meeting early next month to take up the insurance issue.

Meanwhile, Wilson gave each magistrate a summary sheet entitled “Points to consider for the Clinton County Fiscal Court 2014 Group Health Insurance Renewal,” which gives the following information in its entirety.

— New Minimum Hours of Eligibility Requirement: 30 Hours per week.

* Employees who average at least a minimum of 30 hours per week are to be considered full-time in terms of being eligible for group health insurance. The 30 hours per week is based on the preceding 12 month period, so an employee who averages at least 30 hours per week in 2013 would therefore be eligible for coverage in 2014.

— Employer Mandate for Groups with 50+ Employees: Pay or Play Requirements.

* If an employer has at least 50 employees (this includes full-time and full-time equivalents, which is a number of part-time employees calculated to be full-time based on total hours worked in a given month), they have to provide coverage to all full-time employees who work at least 30 hours per week or be fined $2,000 per full-time employee (minus the first 30 employees).

* If an employer does offer coverage, there are two criteria that has to be satisfied:

a) If an employer does offer coverage, the coverage has to meet a certain threshold of benefits offered. This is referred to as Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC). For a policy to be considered MEC, it has to pay, on average, at least 60 percent of covered services.

b) If an employer offers coverage, the coverage has to be deemed “affordable” in that an employee does not pay more than 9.5 percent of their household income for coverage. So, an employee who pays less than 9.5 percent of their income for coverage just on themselves is considered to have affordable coverage. Employees who pay more than 9.5 percent of their income for single coverage has coverage that would not be affordable.

For ease of determining eligibility, the U.S. Treasury Department has stated that an employer can use an employee’s W-2 (box 1 for gross wages) as a safe harbor provision in order to calculate the affordability of single coverage for employees, as opposed to trying to determine the household income for each employee.

* If the group health coverage offered by an employer does not meet the two criteria as described above in sections a. and b., then the coverage does not meet Health Care Reform’s guidelines. What this means is that for every employee that goes out to the Health Insurance Exchange (in Kentucky it is called kynect) and obtains a premium subsidy (extra help in paying premium), the employer would be assessed a $3,000 penalty for every person who received a subsidy.

Summary:

* If a group of 50+ employees do not offer coverage, they are penalized $2,000 per employee per year (minus the first 30 employees).

* If the employer does offer coverage to employees, it has to be offered to everyone who works on average 30 hours per week. Furthermore, the coverage has to provide a minimum level of coverage and cost the employee no more than 9.5 percent of their income. If the group coverage does not meet both of these requirements, then the employer could be penalized $3,000 for each employee who goes out to the Health Insurance Exchange (Kynect) and gets a subsidy.

Prior to adjournment, the court entered into a 20-minute closed session on personnel but took no action upon returning to open session.

The next regular meeting of Clinton Fiscal Court is scheduled for February 20.