1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:15,120 Okay. Uh, our next item on the agenda is open form and announcements. Uh, does 2 00:00:12,719 --> 00:00:19,039 anybody have anything to talk about that's outside the scope of the agenda 3 00:00:17,119 --> 00:00:23,439 this evening? Okay. I don't think we do. Um, just a 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:27,039 couple housekeeping items. We have copies of the presentation that we're 5 00:00:25,119 --> 00:00:30,800 going to be showing down here as well as copies of the agenda. So, if you don't 6 00:00:29,119 --> 00:00:35,360 have one of those and you feel like you will have difficulty seeing on the the 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:41,840 screen behind me, just put your hand up and we'll we'll Mike, would you mind? 8 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:49,000 Oh, boy. Okay. I don't know if we have enough to accommodate everybody. So, um 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Okay. 10 00:00:49,039 --> 00:00:54,079 » This [clears throat] has also been posted to our packet. So, it is 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:59,239 available online. So, if you can access it via your smartphone if you have that 12 00:00:56,079 --> 00:00:59,239 with you. 13 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:05,320 And I'm going to give Mike a second to get that information out to you folks. 14 00:01:05,439 --> 00:01:11,840 » So, I'm gonna I'm going to move on to our next agit agenda item, which is our 15 00:01:10,159 --> 00:01:15,520 health insurance listening session. The reason why we're all here this evening. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:20,320 And first, I just want to say thank you for all of you all taking out time from 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:25,360 your day to come here and be with us this afternoon. We also have quite a 18 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:30,159 number of people on our Zoom meeting. Um we recognize that this is an imposition 19 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:33,920 to you all to take up time and come uh and we recognize that this is an 20 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:39,880 important con uh topic for you. So thank you very much uh for making the effort. 21 00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:39,880 We really appreciate it. 22 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:46,720 » I am going to get to that in one second. Yep. So thank you for that segue. Uh my 23 00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:51,119 name is Chris Barrett. I am the current chair of the select board. Uh just to 24 00:01:49,119 --> 00:01:55,600 give a little bit of history about me, I've been volunteering for the town for 25 00:01:52,720 --> 00:02:01,840 about 15 years now in various positions. Uh most recently, uh this is now my 26 00:01:57,759 --> 00:02:04,560 second term as a select board member. Um with the rest of my board here, I'm 27 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:11,039 going to introduce them. We have Sean Kelly, Noel, Tom, Elizabeth. 28 00:02:09,119 --> 00:02:14,959 These are folks that have all been like myself, volunteering in one capacity or 29 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:20,319 another for this community for a very, very long time. Uh we all have kids that 30 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:27,440 have gone through the school systems and taken part in uh programs like what the 31 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:32,800 park and wreck offers. Um we recognize that the efforts that you and the 32 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:38,080 retirees um are what make Westford the place that 33 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:46,080 we all want to live and raise our families in today. Um, I can't tell you 34 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:51,040 how positive my interactions have been um with the teachers in the schools, uh, 35 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:55,200 with the professional staff that I've had the opportunity to work with over 36 00:02:52,560 --> 00:03:01,280 the past decade and a half. Uh, I've seen just displays excellence that I 37 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:05,040 would never have thought possible. The dedication, 38 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:10,640 uh, the willingness to go the extra mile is truly remarkable. 39 00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:15,840 And I just think, you know, I'm not alone in that. I recognize that our 40 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:20,720 residents probably feel the same way. And I understand that this discussion is 41 00:03:18,319 --> 00:03:26,159 probably making a lot of folks feel like we're not being listened to. We're not 42 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:30,560 being uh we don't feel like the leadership recognizes what we do for the 43 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:35,040 community. And I want to make sure that everybody is really clear that on behalf 44 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:41,040 of myself and I think I'm speaking for my board as well that we truly value 45 00:03:38,799 --> 00:03:46,239 your contributions to this community. Again, because of your efforts, we have 46 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:51,599 a wonderful community to live and raise our families in. So, thank you for that. 47 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:56,239 Now, having said that, one of the challenges that I've recognized in my 48 00:03:54,080 --> 00:04:01,519 time as a board member on the select board is that we have to make really, 49 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:08,560 really hard decisions and we are representing the entirety of 50 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:14,319 Westford, all 25,000. Well, when we have difficult decisions, 51 00:04:10,879 --> 00:04:20,959 um, it's really, really challenging. And we have that scenario unfolding today. 52 00:04:19,199 --> 00:04:28,560 But it hasn't started today. This has been coming for years. Starting with our 53 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:34,720 budget override attempt a few years ago. This board went through extreme lengths 54 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:40,639 to try to get a budget override passed. Uh many listening sessions, outreach to 55 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:44,880 the community. we went and hosted finally one of the largest town meetings 56 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:49,759 this community has ever had and unfortunately 57 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:54,000 um that budget override did not pass at the ballot and as a result we've had to 58 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:58,800 make some really really hard decisions uh including laying people off and 59 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:04,960 really tightening our belts and unfortunately that financial situation 60 00:05:01,199 --> 00:05:08,720 has not improved significantly. What we have done as a leadership team 61 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:14,880 in working with Kristen, our town manager, is to try to find as many 62 00:05:11,919 --> 00:05:19,440 efficiencies as we can to try to make our budget dollars go as far as they 63 00:05:17,199 --> 00:05:23,440 can. And Kristen's going to go into that with a presentation that she has 64 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:28,960 following my remarks. And we continue to look for avenues to 65 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:33,680 increase growth and to bring more revenue into this community so that we 66 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:38,560 can all enjoy the things that we want to enjoy. Uh including health insurance, 67 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:43,440 including you know salaries that are measure it with our benchmark 68 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:48,880 communities. Um but still, you know, keep our buildings functioning, keep our 69 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:52,800 police, you know, staffed well, our fire department staffed well, make sure that 70 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:56,880 we have fire trucks and things of that nature. There's so many competing 71 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:01,039 priority. It's very difficult to satisfy all of them. 72 00:05:59,039 --> 00:06:04,240 So, one of the things that we've been doing 73 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:09,520 and when we've been looking at these efficiencies is following the playbook, 74 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:18,080 if you will, that came out of the budget task force effort. Uh, this group did a 75 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:23,280 multi-month deep dive into every area of Westford's town government, including 76 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:29,199 the schools, and looked at how we could do things better. And if you want, that 77 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:34,720 report is on the town website. It's a it's actually a good read. Um, and we've 78 00:06:32,319 --> 00:06:40,240 gone through and tried to tackle a number of the recommendations that were 79 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:45,199 made in that task force's report. And one of those is to look at health 80 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:50,560 insurance. To start that initiative off, we engaged 81 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:54,560 an independent consultant to do a review of our current health insurance 82 00:06:52,080 --> 00:07:00,400 operations. uh that came back to us earlier this year and since then we've 83 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:05,120 been having discussions about how do we need to make some changes in order to 84 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:10,720 try to rightsize the health insurance offerings so that they are can measure 85 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:16,960 it with again our benchmark communities and to implement this these changes in a 86 00:07:14,319 --> 00:07:26,960 way that matches our budget needs to some degree. Um, and I will say that we 87 00:07:22,479 --> 00:07:31,599 have had to work at a pace faster than we're all comfortable with. 88 00:07:29,599 --> 00:07:36,960 Um, however, we have learned that we have 89 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:42,800 some more time. We have some more options. And as part of the presentation 90 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:46,240 that Kristen's giving after I'm done, she's going to talk about the new 91 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:51,520 timeline that we're going to be potentially utilizing to do this health 92 00:07:48,319 --> 00:07:56,639 insurance review. And hopefully that will give us some more time to sort of 93 00:07:54,479 --> 00:08:02,479 reset, figure out where we're going to go uh with a more thoughtful process 94 00:07:59,759 --> 00:08:08,240 than what we had previously established or used. So, with that, um, I'm going to 95 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:11,280 just take a quick pause. Going to just turn to my fellow select board members. 96 00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:15,120 Is there any comments from the board before I turn it over to Kristen 97 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:20,000 that you want to make? >> I think most of the comments I have are 98 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:22,800 what you just Sorry. >> Hi, Tom Clay. I was just going to say 99 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,919 that I think most of the comments I have are either you've already made them or 100 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:30,560 they're in Kristen's report. So, >> I'm good. 101 00:08:27,039 --> 00:08:33,919 » Same. Thank you. Okay. So, with that, I'm going to turn the mic over to 102 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,680 Kristen last. Here's our town manager and she's going to give the presentation 103 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:43,959 that hopefully we can all view up on the screen. And uh thank you very much for 104 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:43,959 your time. Do you want to use this mic? 105 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,600 Thank you. 106 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,120 All right. Good afternoon everyone. Uh thank you so much for those of you who 107 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:04,399 are in the room here at Stonybrook and on Zoom. Also, uh we have WCAT here who 108 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,839 is taping this. This is not live streamed this evening, but you will be 109 00:09:05,839 --> 00:09:11,440 able to access the video likely tomorrow or over the weekend. And the Zoom is 110 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:17,040 being recorded as well that will be posting to the town's web page. Uh we 111 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:22,160 did post this presentation to the packet documents this afternoon. So, we are um 112 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:25,440 you may access it there. Uh also, if you do need a hard copy when you leave, 113 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,360 please contact the town manager's office tomorrow and we are happy to get you a 114 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:33,600 copy if you need that. And oh, I hear there's some more coming 115 00:09:30,959 --> 00:09:37,839 as well. Um, I did want to introduce uh the assistant town manager of strategic 116 00:09:35,279 --> 00:09:42,240 operations, Mike Edwards, here and also Dan O'Donnell, our finance director. Uh, 117 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:47,040 they have been also instrumental in this discussion, as well as our HR director, 118 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:50,480 Pam Hicks, who's on vacation, and the number of our health insurance trust 119 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:55,120 members, some who are here today and some who are here online. Um, we have 120 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:59,600 enabled the question and answer function on the Zoom. So, if you are not in the 121 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:03,040 room and you do have a question, please type it into that question and answer 122 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,720 function. If you're having trouble with that, you can type it into the chat, but 123 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:10,640 we would prefer the question and answer function. I am going to go through the 124 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:14,480 entire presentation before we take questions and answers because it does 125 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:18,320 flow very nicely and it may answer some of your questions after that. Um, some 126 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:23,680 of these things that I am going to mention, uh, Chris has said before, but 127 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:29,680 I think it's, uh, fine to duplicate those efforts as well. So, let's make 128 00:10:26,959 --> 00:10:33,360 sure this works. All right. So, just I always like to 129 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:37,600 start a presentation with the overview of what we're going to talk about today. 130 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:40,560 Uh Chris mentioned why we are here. I'm going to dig into that a little bit 131 00:10:38,959 --> 00:10:44,959 more. We're going to talk a little bit more about the budget task force report 132 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:48,720 and how that addressed health insurance. We're going to talk about Westford's 133 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:53,040 specific efforts to date related to efficiencies and change. We're going to 134 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:57,440 talk about our overall financial and operational challenges. We're going to 135 00:10:55,519 --> 00:11:01,440 talk about health insurance trends that came out of the locked report and what 136 00:10:59,279 --> 00:11:06,320 we're seeing in the market. We will talk about our market basket comparisons. 137 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:10,880 That is the 20 20 communities that we compare ourselves related to 138 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:15,200 classification and compensation. We're going to then wind down to talk 139 00:11:12,959 --> 00:11:18,720 about where we're going from here, specifically the timeline and then 140 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:23,360 outlining next steps and then giving you all a chance to ask questions and then 141 00:11:21,279 --> 00:11:28,160 what the process is for outreach moving forward. 142 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:32,399 So why we are here? So as Chris alluded to, the budget task force report 143 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:38,079 identified health insurance as one of our major structural budget issues and 144 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:42,240 ma major costs within the town budget. The company Locked In was retained 145 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:47,120 through the Health Insurance Trust uh with the support of the select board 146 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:52,320 back in November of 2025 to independently evaluate our health 147 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:58,240 insurance program in total. Most recently on July 1st, the Health 148 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:03,360 Insurance Trust voted on a number of items and the select board reviewed 149 00:12:00,399 --> 00:12:07,040 those votes on July 2nd. I'm going to read them, but know that these may 150 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:11,120 change over the course of the presentation. There may be discussions 151 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:14,800 and decisions that may change. So the first vote was to no longer pursue the 152 00:12:12,959 --> 00:12:19,120 GIC as a healthcare plan for implementation uh effective July 1st, 153 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:24,480 2027 to defer implementation of a GIC 154 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:30,079 lookalike plan or a benchmark plan uh until of design changes for November uh 155 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:35,120 2026 renewal and allow the health insurance trust to reassess that in the 156 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:38,560 spring of 2027 and to pursue pursue negotiations with the insurance advisory 157 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:42,480 committee, discussions with the insurance advisory committee and uh 158 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:47,600 negotiations with the PEC public employee committee uh towards 159 00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:52,480 implementation of a midpoint plan design change intended to take effect November 160 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:58,880 1st of 2026. We'll talk about that November 1st date in a minute. 161 00:12:56,399 --> 00:13:03,839 So based upon further review after these votes took place and conversations with 162 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:08,560 our broker Hub and I just want to note our broker uh Mark Christelli from hub 163 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:12,800 is on the line. So if there are specific questions about our existing plan design 164 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:18,160 or any changes, he is available to speak to that. Uh he is on the zoom. Uh we 165 00:13:15,519 --> 00:13:23,279 learned that plan uh adjustments could be made mid year or midcycle. So that is 166 00:13:20,959 --> 00:13:28,079 new information that we did not present and uh were not clear on back at the 167 00:13:25,839 --> 00:13:32,000 beginning of July. So now we have a new timeline that is in play that we're 168 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:35,519 going to discuss today. and we want to make sure that further evaluation of 169 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:39,240 plan changes is taking place by the health insurance trust. 170 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:44,800 So digging a little bit deeper into the budget task force report and if you look 171 00:13:42,959 --> 00:13:48,000 at this presentation online the light blue is a clickable link so it will 172 00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:53,360 bring you right to the budget task force report that was published in October of 173 00:13:50,079 --> 00:13:58,160 2023. That overall report identified townwide long-term structural deficits 174 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:02,880 that we had. It identified the health insurance as one of our largest 175 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:09,040 financial pressures, estimating 1 to2 million of budget impact in fiscal 25 176 00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:13,680 and 26. We started fiscal 27 two weeks ago on July 1st, just for context. It 177 00:14:12,079 --> 00:14:18,720 identified that the expenses of our partially self-insured plan were far 178 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:23,839 higher than forecasted over the past 12 months. And that was in 2022 to 2023. 179 00:14:22,079 --> 00:14:27,600 And the recommendation of that report was to review Westford's health 180 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:31,800 insurance strategy to ensure that it was the most cost-effective course. 181 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:38,639 I want to note that the select board and the town staff and other boards and 182 00:14:36,959 --> 00:14:44,399 committees along with the finance committee uh and others have done an 183 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:50,320 immense amount of work since that budget task force report was implemented and 184 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:56,000 accepted. We've started to pay off smaller capital projects rather than 185 00:14:52,320 --> 00:15:00,800 carrying the debt. We've implemented a townwide centralized fleet 186 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:05,760 fueling that for as much a much less cost than going to the pump at the town 187 00:15:02,639 --> 00:15:09,360 of Westford. We've uh now implemented a self-sustaining recreation enterprise 188 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:12,959 that is no longer subsidized by the general fund. 189 00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:17,440 We continue to implement energy efficiency projects utilizing grants, 190 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,959 incentives, and net metering credits at no cost to the taxpayer. In some 191 00:15:19,279 --> 00:15:25,680 instances, we did have a reduction of staff 192 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:29,600 following the unsuccessful override in all areas. 193 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:34,480 We are starting to actively and have been actively auctioning off surplus 194 00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:39,519 equipment to backfill our free cash. Back at the spring of 2026 town meeting, 195 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:44,240 we uh asked the town meeting to authorize to file with the legislature 196 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:49,199 uh to change digital legal ads to release the burden on uh residents and 197 00:15:46,959 --> 00:15:54,000 businesses who are filing for uh permits that require legal ads. We're continuing 198 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:59,199 to support our economic development efforts and that was a uh budget item in 199 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:03,040 the fiscal 27 budget to continue to try to increase our revenue and our 200 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:06,959 commercial tax base. We implemented a pay as youth throw 201 00:16:04,959 --> 00:16:11,839 hybrid program partially shifting the cost of the curbside trash services to 202 00:16:09,199 --> 00:16:16,560 residents who are using that service. And we continue to look at a townwide 203 00:16:14,399 --> 00:16:22,079 fee review to align fees with the actual cost of providing certain services. So 204 00:16:19,279 --> 00:16:26,320 these items hit certain categories. It hits taxpayers, it hits employees, and 205 00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:32,639 it hits businesses. So I just want to be be cognizant about that. 206 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:37,040 We also need to understand that we have continuous townwide financial and 207 00:16:34,639 --> 00:16:41,920 operational pressures. Our costs are rising faster than our projected revenue 208 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:46,959 growth under Proposition 2 and a half. Our fiscal 26 and 27 budgets relied on 209 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:51,759 plan use of one-time funds to maintain services and that was primarily in the 210 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:56,240 school budget and they laid out a very robust plan of how they would be 211 00:16:53,360 --> 00:17:00,320 spending down those one-time fees. our school transportation expenses and our 212 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:05,360 special education tuition are continuing to increase above that two and a half 213 00:17:02,079 --> 00:17:10,079 limit. We see our rising uh energy, utility, and other operating costs. 214 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:14,240 We continue to need to fund our Middle Sex County retirement system liability 215 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:18,640 and that continues to increase as we have many more retirees and that cost is 216 00:17:16,559 --> 00:17:24,799 increasing. We want to make sure that our other post-employment benefits, OPEB 217 00:17:20,959 --> 00:17:28,480 funding, is strong to maintain our AAA bond rating, which ensures that we get 218 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,760 the lowest possible interest rate when we're going to borrow for capital 219 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,720 projects. We've seen that we've deferred 220 00:17:33,039 --> 00:17:38,960 maintenance across our properties and facilities, and that has been shown in 221 00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:42,080 our townwide facilities updates that have been discussed. We talked a little 222 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:46,320 bit about that on Tuesday night at the Robinson School Building Committee 223 00:17:43,679 --> 00:17:50,000 meeting with the tri boards. We also continue to prioritize 224 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:53,840 competitive compensation for recruitment and retention. This is a major item that 225 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:58,960 the select board identified in our strategic plan that we need to continue 226 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:04,160 to do to ensure that we retain our employees and we recruit active 227 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:08,400 employees. And then we are also seeing as we've discussed our health insurance 228 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:12,520 expenses and rising Medicare costs. And you will see that in a future slide. 229 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:23,039 So this slide lays out two things. The red line outlines the percent of our 230 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:28,559 health insurance costs over the percent of our operating budget year-over-year. 231 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:34,320 On this far side, it starts with fiscal 19 and the other side ends at fiscal 27 232 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:38,880 because we've budgeted for that. So you will see that our health insurance costs 233 00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:42,320 in terms of budget is increasing year-over-year. 234 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:46,960 We also wanted to make sure that we showed you that in fiscal 22 we 235 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:51,919 implemented the health insurance trust and that trust balance has been growing 236 00:18:49,679 --> 00:18:55,360 over time which is a good thing because we are using it to buffer in certain 237 00:18:53,840 --> 00:19:00,400 areas and that was identified in the lock report that we did have a healthy 238 00:18:57,679 --> 00:19:05,919 trust fund balance finally when we were doing the budget task force report in 239 00:19:02,559 --> 00:19:10,480 2023 our balance was not good at that point in time so we're proud to say that 240 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,480 that has increased 241 00:19:11,039 --> 00:19:20,400 What's also telling though is our subscribers. So in the uh red orange 242 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:25,120 color is our total of non-medicare plans. So our active employee plans and 243 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:31,760 you can see that that is actually decreasing from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 244 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:38,160 27. Our Medicare subscribers is actually 245 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:42,640 increasing. We have a number of retirees that are increasing. 246 00:19:40,559 --> 00:19:46,720 We also have five-year trends that are showing that our Medicare costs have 247 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:51,280 risen 13.4% over the past 5 years and our 248 00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:55,039 non-Medicare costs have increased 7% over that period of time. That is more 249 00:19:53,520 --> 00:20:00,039 than the 2 and a half% that we're allowed to raise through Proposition 2 250 00:19:56,799 --> 00:20:00,039 and a half. 251 00:20:01,039 --> 00:20:07,280 There's been a lot of conversation and a lot of confusion over how we compare 252 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:10,799 ourselves to our market basket. So those 20 communities that we compare ourselves 253 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:14,799 related to compensation and classification. I'm not going to go 254 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:20,000 through everything, but there are three packets online and I have linked them 255 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:25,840 here. So we have a market basket premium rate and contribution analysis for the 256 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:30,559 active plans. We have our overall annual town contribution rates and then we 257 00:20:27,919 --> 00:20:34,400 broke it down to our retirey Medicare employee contributions. 258 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:39,200 I want to caution you that when you're reviewing this data, you should review 259 00:20:36,159 --> 00:20:44,080 it as a comprehensive package because if you look at it each individual table, it 260 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:48,080 tells an individual story, but you really should be looking at it 261 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:52,880 comprehensively. to summarize these sheets because there 262 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:57,919 are a lot to look at and it may not be familiar to you. Westford is an outlier 263 00:20:55,919 --> 00:21:02,400 in employee employer contribution percentages but not in employer 264 00:20:59,919 --> 00:21:06,720 spending. So in the employer contribution percentage, we're at the 265 00:21:04,159 --> 00:21:11,760 bottom of the market basket. For employer dollar contributions in the HMO 266 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:17,200 and the PO plans, we're approximately average or slightly below the market. 267 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:23,919 For employee dollar contribution for the HSA, we are below average. And for the 268 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:29,280 retiree Medicare contribution, we're really in the lower middle of that. 269 00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:35,240 We do have one of the most comprehensive plan designs within our market basket. 270 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,240 So, I want to note that. 271 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:42,880 So where do we go from here and what do we do with all of this data? So I just 272 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:47,919 want to be clear that there have been no plan design changes since the 273 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:52,640 implementation of the trust in 2021. That is actually very uncommon. Many 274 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:58,720 municipalities and many private sector entities or nonprofits are looking at 275 00:21:55,039 --> 00:22:02,880 changes every year or every two years. So we have some options to look at. 276 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:07,120 We'd like to see the Health Insurance Trust review a midpoint plan design that 277 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:12,159 was discussed at the last trust meeting and discussed at the select board 278 00:22:08,559 --> 00:22:17,520 meeting on July 2nd. We do still want to identify and and look into a benchmark 279 00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:22,480 lookalike plan. We want to look at our fund balance and potentially a targeted 280 00:22:19,679 --> 00:22:26,080 drawdown to alleviate general fund implementation into the health insurance 281 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:30,720 trust. We wanted to create a fund balance 282 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:36,000 policy. When the health insurance trust was implemented, it was noted that we 283 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:40,159 should have about a $3.5 to $7.3 million balance. Now that we've had a trust for 284 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:44,799 over 5 years, it's prudent to look at what that targeted fund balance should 285 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:48,159 be and create a policy. And there may be other alternatives that we have not 286 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:52,480 thought of. And I know one of the frequently asked questions we got was, 287 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:57,679 can we submit other alternatives? Please do. and I know some of you have and then 288 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:01,679 we will likely begin negotiations if anything comes out of that health 289 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:06,720 insurance trust meeting under uh Mass General Law chapter 32 section 21 and 290 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:09,840 22. That may sound foreign to you. We do have more information on the website, 291 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,360 but that is this the general law through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on 292 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:18,280 health how health insurance is changed and negotiated in the public sector. 293 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:24,559 So this slide may be slightly difficult to read in the room. Again, it is online 294 00:23:22,799 --> 00:23:30,960 and we can get you additional packets. And it talks about a timeline. And now 295 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:36,240 that we've found that we could do a mid plan adjustment, we have developed a 296 00:23:33,919 --> 00:23:42,720 timeline for a potential adjustment for May, excuse me, March 1st of 2027. 297 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:47,600 It is not clear if this would be an active employee only or a retiree only 298 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:50,960 or a combination change at this point in time. That needs to be investigated and 299 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:56,880 reviewed by the health insurance trust. So I want to be clear about that. We are 300 00:23:53,919 --> 00:24:01,600 currently under number one. So June 2nd to July 24th, we're modeling options. 301 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:05,360 We're calculating savings and we're preparing for potential mitigation. And 302 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:12,320 I will talk about that in a previous in a prior in a future slide. 303 00:24:08,799 --> 00:24:16,799 July 24th to August 7th, we anticipate that the health insurance trust will 304 00:24:14,159 --> 00:24:22,559 meet and will review and potentially endorse a plan change proposal. I have 305 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:28,559 called for a health insurance trust meeting for next Thursday, July 30th. Uh 306 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:32,240 if we can get all the members together or most of the members together, you'll 307 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:38,640 be notified of that meeting and of course welcome to attend. 308 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:43,679 Between August 7th and August 21st, if the Health Insurance Trust comes up with 309 00:24:40,559 --> 00:24:48,880 a plan, the select board would vote to enter into negotiations which would be 310 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:53,039 led by the town manager. And then August 21st to August 28th 311 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:58,480 would be step five where there'd be formal PEC notice. So public employee 312 00:24:55,679 --> 00:25:04,799 committee including proposed changes, savings, and a mitigation plan. 313 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:10,240 And then step six, August 31st to September 30th, would be that 30-day 314 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:16,760 negotiation window for the PEC. And that is a state law. That is not something 315 00:25:12,159 --> 00:25:16,760 that the town of Westford has made up. 316 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:24,799 If we can come to an agreement, if there are changes proposed with the PEC, 317 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:30,159 by that point in time, there would be a vote by October 9th, there would be 318 00:25:27,919 --> 00:25:36,640 final local approval in terms of a contract by December 15th and a written 319 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:41,760 agreement. And then there would be a 60-day notification period. 320 00:25:39,679 --> 00:25:48,559 If there is not an agreement, Mass General Law has an appeal process to a 321 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:54,400 state board and that re review process takes between 30 to 60 days. The review 322 00:25:52,159 --> 00:25:58,720 panel would make their decision and then if there is an implementation that would 323 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:04,440 follow, but both of these paths would contemplate a March 1st change if 324 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,440 possible. 325 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:11,600 So I want to talk a little bit about mitigation. So, this may be a foreign 326 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:17,279 term to some of you, but if a municipality is contemplating plan 327 00:26:14,559 --> 00:26:24,480 design changes, they are required by state law to negotiate with the PEC a 328 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:29,440 mitigation for those who may be impacted by the changes that are proposed. Um, 329 00:26:27,679 --> 00:26:34,880 I'm not going to read the entire slide, but some examples are a health 330 00:26:31,679 --> 00:26:39,520 reimbursement associate agreement, some wellness programs, a healthc care trust 331 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:44,080 fund, which we actually have, out-ofpocket caps, other qualified 332 00:26:41,919 --> 00:26:50,559 medical expenses, and health insurance premium holidays. We are not required to 333 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:53,919 give a mitigation package over 25% of the savings that the town of Westford 334 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:57,600 would see if there is a change. So, I want to be clear about that. 335 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:05,279 So, I'm wrapping up here. So, if you're thinking of questions, now is the time 336 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:10,080 to to get those ready. Um, next steps. We want to continue public engagement. 337 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:14,080 Um, I will admit from my standpoint, we may not have done the best job engaging 338 00:27:12,159 --> 00:27:19,600 our employees and our retirees and the public related to this. I see this 339 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:24,400 action today as a reset to gain trust and confidence that we want to educate 340 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:28,480 you all. We want to provide as much information as we can in a clear and 341 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:33,200 concise manner and we want to receive your input. 342 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:38,880 Again, we want to receive your feedback. Stay in contact with your IA and PEC 343 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:44,240 representatives if you're an employee or retiree. Um, just in case you're not 344 00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:48,559 aware, I did just this week uh name Jod Ross as the retiree IA representative. 345 00:27:46,799 --> 00:27:52,640 Marilyn Frank, thank you so much for your uh service over the years. She did 346 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:58,399 resign a few months ago, but the retirees now do have an IA and PEC 347 00:27:55,760 --> 00:28:03,424 representative. Thank you, Jody. And there will be future, 348 00:28:01,404 --> 00:28:03,424 [applause] 349 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:10,000 like I said before, there will be future trust and select board meetings and all 350 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:14,960 of those are in public, open to all of you, and are posted. And if you need or 351 00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:19,600 want to email the town manager's office, we have that email listed here, or the 352 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:25,039 select board, um, feel free to do so. So, with that, I'm going to turn it back 353 00:28:21,279 --> 00:28:28,559 over to Chairperson Barrett, and um Mike Edwards is going to monitor the question 354 00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:31,559 and answer. So, I'll leave it to you, Chris. 355 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:38,480 Thank you very much, Kristen, for that comprehensive uh presentation. Uh I'm 356 00:28:37,039 --> 00:28:42,640 sure there was a lot of acronyms though that were thrown around and uh if you do 357 00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:47,360 have any questions on those again please put them in the chat if you're on the on 358 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:52,720 the sorry the question and answer uh portion of Zoom and you obviously you 359 00:28:49,279 --> 00:28:57,919 can ask uh today um two questions actually for me to you Kristen and one 360 00:28:55,279 --> 00:29:03,039 is you did highlight or mention that we we have stumbled a little bit with our 361 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:08,880 communications um so with this new timeline and the expectation of of a 362 00:29:06,559 --> 00:29:13,679 number of future meetings. Could you just go a little bit more into detail on 363 00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:18,480 how folks can be notified that meetings are going to occur and sign up for any 364 00:29:16,559 --> 00:29:21,840 sort of, you know, email distribution list that we may be maintaining at this 365 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:26,880 point so that you can be as involved as possible. 366 00:29:23,279 --> 00:29:31,279 » Can you do Absolutely. So, um, if you're comfortable with the website, you can 367 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:36,399 sign up under the notify me tab for select board meetings and health 368 00:29:33,279 --> 00:29:41,440 insurance trust meetings. Um, we do have a healthy email list right now for 369 00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:45,760 retirees, but if you are not on that list, please contact your retiree 370 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:51,200 association, whether it's MTRS or Middle Sex, and they will get you on that list 371 00:29:47,679 --> 00:29:55,200 and we will update that as well. Um, we are trying to do as much on social 372 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:58,399 media, posting these meetings as well or following along for the health insurance 373 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:03,919 trust website or the select board website. Um, so we are doing our best to 374 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,200 get the word out. I know not everybody can access those ways. Even if you have 375 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,559 a question and you want to understand that, contact our office. We're happy to 376 00:30:09,039 --> 00:30:15,039 help. So, one logistic thing, when we do open 377 00:30:13,679 --> 00:30:18,640 it up to questions and answers, I'm going to put the microphone here. If you 378 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:22,799 are able-bodied to come up to the microphone, we'd really appreciate it 379 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:26,720 because the owl is picking up the Zoom for people who are on the Zoom to 380 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:29,840 listen. If you are not able-bodied, just raise your hand. We're happy to walk a 381 00:30:28,159 --> 00:30:32,399 mic to you and we may just repeat the question if those at home can't reach 382 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,480 it. But if you have any other questions, Chris, that you want me to answer, happy 383 00:30:33,919 --> 00:30:38,640 to do that. >> Yeah, thank you very much, uh, Kristen. 384 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:43,440 Uh, I think one of the things that I took away from the number of emails that 385 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:47,679 we received, and I believe that number was over well over a hundred. So, again, 386 00:30:46,159 --> 00:30:52,399 thank you very much for taking the time to draft those emails. Um, it really 387 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:56,000 meant a lot to to me and I'm sure to my fellow board members as well as town 388 00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:02,000 staff that uh you took the time to do that. Um, but one of the things that I 389 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:07,279 took away was, you know, what is this going to mean to me? What how is it 390 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:12,080 going to affect my deductibles or my premiums? So, Kristen, can I know this 391 00:31:10,399 --> 00:31:17,120 is difficult, but with the timeline that we just sort of unveiled, at what point 392 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:20,320 do you you know, this is a guesstimate to some degree. Please be in mind, keep 393 00:31:19,039 --> 00:31:26,320 that in mind, but when do you think people will be able to get answers to 394 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:32,080 questions like that? Sure. So, we have initially worked with hub on 395 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:38,240 what some plan design changes may potentially look like and what it may 396 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:41,760 look like for a low user of the plan, a medium user of the plan, and a high user 397 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:45,919 of the plan. So, that information is out there, but we need to do a better job 398 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:49,360 boiling it down for you. Unfortunately, because health insurance is so personal 399 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:53,679 and everybody's situation is so different, we can't put up a calculator 400 00:31:51,679 --> 00:31:58,159 for you to plug in what your situation is like we did for the override just to 401 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:03,200 plug in your t in your home so you could see, you know, if your taxes were going 402 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:08,960 up or not. Um, so we will do our best to try to take a low user, a medium user, 403 00:32:06,159 --> 00:32:13,519 and a high user and balance that out and model that out. Um and we'll work with 404 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:17,600 hub on some other modeling because they are familiar with doing this with other 405 00:32:15,039 --> 00:32:21,360 municipalities as well. >> Okay. Thank you Kristen. Um first is 406 00:32:19,919 --> 00:32:23,840 there any questions from the rest of the board here? 407 00:32:22,399 --> 00:32:29,679 » Are we ready to hear from the the public? Okay, fantastic. Um so I know we 408 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:34,320 have a number of questions online. Why don't we take one right now and then 409 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:37,279 again if you're interested in asking a question, you're here in this room, 410 00:32:35,519 --> 00:32:41,279 please come down to this mic and queue in this quarter or raise your hand and 411 00:32:38,799 --> 00:32:44,480 we can bring a mic to you. So, uh, why don't I pass that? 412 00:32:42,399 --> 00:32:48,240 » Sure. So, the first question comes from an anonymous attendee. I know a few 413 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:51,600 years ago the town used to go out to bid on different insurance companies to see 414 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:55,279 which would offer the best rates. Is there a possibility to do that again? 415 00:32:53,679 --> 00:32:59,039 Some of the documents make it seem like Blue Cross Blue Shield is the only 416 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:01,919 option. Western is a large customer of theirs and I think they would reduce 417 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:07,200 their premiums if they knew they could lose us as a customer if we were 418 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:11,840 shopping around for better deals. >> So Mark, could you um discuss from your 419 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:16,720 standpoint as our broker about how you do go out to bid uh each year when we're 420 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:21,200 in the renewal period? >> Sure. Yeah. In the past at Westford, we 421 00:33:19,039 --> 00:33:25,679 have looked at other alternatives, keeping in mind that, you know, Westford 422 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:32,480 is now on what what the insurance world would call a self-insured plan. So 423 00:33:28,559 --> 00:33:36,799 approximately 85% of all your costs and have really nothing to do with Blue 424 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:42,000 Cross Blue Shield or with Harvard or Mass General or Singular Etna. That 85% 425 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:47,840 of costs of the plan are are direct reimburse reimbursements to healthcare 426 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:55,039 providers and to pharmacists. So what's left over to negotiate on is about 15%. 427 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:59,279 Roughly so roughly about six to 7% is what actually goes to Blue Cross Blue 428 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:05,440 Shield for administration. So that's what gets paid to them um to do what 429 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:10,800 they do, negotiate discounts, administer claims and everything else they do. And 430 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:14,560 then the other uh balance of that uh is for stop-loss insurance. So that's the 431 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:18,480 actual insurance. So, we do have some insurance even though we're 432 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:22,800 self-insured. So, we have a very large deductible that uh the town 433 00:34:21,119 --> 00:34:28,879 self-insures. Um and then above that deductible, the 434 00:34:27,119 --> 00:34:32,879 uh and there's a separate stop-loss insurance company that pays anything 435 00:34:30,720 --> 00:34:38,159 above that. So, at the end of the day, when you're negotiating discounts from 436 00:34:35,359 --> 00:34:43,919 carriers, you're really negotiating on 15% of the overall cost. So just kind of 437 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:49,520 simple math, if we were able to find a claims administrator and the stop-loss 438 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:53,200 carrier to be 10% below what your current fixed costs are, that'd be about 439 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:59,119 1.5% of the overall cost of your health. And 440 00:34:56,399 --> 00:35:03,280 not a little 1.5%, but you know, we certainly have looked at different third 441 00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:07,119 party administrators out there and some claims administrators charge less than 442 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:11,200 the cost. And um from a stoploss insurance 443 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:16,640 standpoint, that's something we've put out to bid to 20 carriers every year to 444 00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:20,000 try to find the very best stop-loss. Just to give you a little color on the 445 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:25,839 stop-loss insurance, I'd say over the past four years, the insurance carriers 446 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:31,200 probably paid out in excess of uh a million dollars in claims and 447 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:35,280 they've taken an increase. >> Thanks, Mark. I think we're going to 448 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:39,599 move on to the next question. Anybody 449 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,240 in person? Why don't >> Why don't we just keep going through the 450 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,560 mic? Let's just keep moving what's online. 451 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:48,320 » All right. So, next question comes from Janet Dubner. Are you committed to 452 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:53,880 ensure that retirees who have moved out of state will still be able to access 453 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,880 Westford's insurance coverage. 454 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,440 » Uh, that's an emphatic yes. 455 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:05,359 » Okay. Next question coming online from Jesse Byer. Being that the data shows we 456 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:09,599 rank at the bottom in contribution percentage and below mid in actual 457 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:13,520 dollars the town town contributes, I'm curious why the select board is asking 458 00:36:11,359 --> 00:36:18,240 employees to absorb more of this burden. The data clearly shows the town should 459 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:21,680 be doing more, not less. So, it's disappointing that it appears the 460 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:25,839 decision is being made independent of the data. What is going to happen if a 461 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:29,160 switch is made and we fall to the bottom of our peers? 462 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:37,920 Uh, okay. Thank you, Jesse, for that question. Um, I don't know if I'm the 463 00:36:35,839 --> 00:36:42,240 Kristen, do you want to take this? Nope. Okay. 464 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:48,000 Tom wants to take it. Very good. >> I'm happy to take a step. 465 00:36:45,119 --> 00:36:50,960 So, um, it took me a while to to go through all these numbers and feel like 466 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:56,400 I've got a good grip on it. So, uh, absolutely right that, uh, that the town 467 00:36:53,680 --> 00:37:00,880 gives 35% supports 35% which is at the low end, but, um, if you look at the 468 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,280 dollars, I don't know if we're bringing that up or not, but if you look at the 469 00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:08,000 dollars in the report, you can pull it up. We're very very close to the average 470 00:37:05,359 --> 00:37:10,880 of what the town pays on behalf of you. So, the the policy is actually a richer 471 00:37:09,839 --> 00:37:14,400 policy. It's a little bit more expensive. Uh, so we have a smaller 472 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:18,640 percentage, but the actual dollars that we pay are very very close to the uh to 473 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:23,359 the B to the the average within our market basket. So, uh, we're close in 474 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:27,839 there. Um, why are we even considering this at all? Well, uh, I think the 475 00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:32,079 answer to that might be in the, um, the slide that looks at the percent of 476 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:35,520 budget. So when we look at uh long-term planning for the town and we look at 477 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:39,520 things that are rising faster than 2 and a half% and are consuming more and more 478 00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:42,800 budget dollars, uh we feel like we have to take a look at those and see if uh 479 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:47,200 there are steps that we can take reasonably together in partnership that 480 00:37:45,359 --> 00:37:52,960 will help us sort of in over the long term remain within our our sort of 481 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:58,320 budget uh capacity. And so I think the numbers show that we uh pay about 50% 482 00:37:55,680 --> 00:38:03,040 more in healthcare now than we did in 2019. So, it's a big jump. I think it's 483 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:06,560 11% of our budget instead of 9%, something like that. So, it's continuing 484 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:10,800 to grow. And so, just like we do with every other uh spending category in 485 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,920 town, we want to make sure we're looking carefully to see if there's some 486 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:18,000 adjustments that we can make to still have a reasonable plan, but but help us 487 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:22,960 over the long term make sure that we're not eating into other critical services 488 00:38:20,079 --> 00:38:26,079 with with any with any uh expense category that we deal with. And that was 489 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:29,440 the finding of the budget task force was we need to look at those things over 490 00:38:27,359 --> 00:38:33,359 time. if we don't tend that garden over time and they continue to consume more 491 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:37,040 and more resource, it's less uh teachers, fewer firefighters, fewer 492 00:38:35,119 --> 00:38:40,720 other public service and that we're able to offer here in town. So, so that's why 493 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:44,119 we feel like we have to take this this reasonable look. 494 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:50,240 » Any other comments from the board on that question? 495 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:55,839 I mean because I think that this is brought up a lot right which is sorry 496 00:38:52,000 --> 00:39:00,480 Sean Kelly um from the select board also the select board appointee to the health 497 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:06,880 insurance trust I'm acutely aware that that we rank low 498 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:11,839 on the employer contribution right it's 35% where most of our peer communities 499 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:15,119 are about 30%. One of health health insurance is 500 00:39:13,599 --> 00:39:20,480 tremendously complicated, right? And there are certain le levers that you can 501 00:39:17,119 --> 00:39:27,599 pull um that can change behavior and save costs, right? Um one of those is if 502 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:34,079 you make adjustments to a a plan, you can in theory actually reduce overall 503 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:40,240 premiums, right? So by instituting things like co-pays and deductibles, 504 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:45,440 things of that nature, you can change behavior of the users to prevent, let's 505 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:50,480 say, costly emergency visits, things like that. Um, if there's a deductible 506 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:57,839 associate associated with it, that can also result in lower overall premiums. 507 00:39:54,960 --> 00:40:03,520 And the idea is is and I think what's getting left out is if there is a plan 508 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:09,440 design change, this could this will result in lower premiums for for 509 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:14,079 a lot of people a lot of people who are current users and um partake in our 510 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:18,000 health plan. I I think that's getting lost on it because one of the things 511 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:24,560 that I often hear from our employees is that our current insurance model is too 512 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:30,320 expensive even for them, right? So we could by making plan design changes 513 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:34,400 actually reduce the premium in in an ideal world and I can't speak for my 514 00:40:32,079 --> 00:40:39,839 colleagues but I would love to see us be able to reduce the premiums and then up 515 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:45,200 the employer contribution and I don't think that those two things are um 516 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:48,880 inconsistent and I think it's something that we can do long term but we first 517 00:40:47,359 --> 00:40:52,720 need to start making plan design changes. So, I think that we can save 518 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:59,280 the town money and that we can also offer a plan uh that's maybe not as 519 00:40:55,119 --> 00:41:02,800 robust but has a lower premium. So, >> Sean, thank you very much for those 520 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:07,280 comments. And I want to say was it uh we have a 56% or 54% enrollment. Is that 521 00:41:06,079 --> 00:41:13,040 about right? >> 56% of our employees take advantage of 522 00:41:09,839 --> 00:41:16,640 our health insurance options. Now, uh we do have somebody at the mic. So, why 523 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:20,800 don't we go to you, sir? Can we We've got a mic there. Good. If I'm sorry if 524 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,640 you would just please let us know your name and address so we have it for the 525 00:41:22,079 --> 00:41:24,480 record. Thank you. >> Uh it doesn't have to be it could be 526 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:30,960 your position. >> I got you. Uh Tyler Buts I work for the 527 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:38,319 highway department. Uh just hearing that we're low in percentage contribution 528 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:43,280 but the dollars is even. All that really says to me is if it changes it's going 529 00:41:41,119 --> 00:41:48,319 to punish the people who actually use it and those are the people who need it the 530 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:52,280 most. So, am I wrong in that or is that am I picking that up correctly? 531 00:41:53,119 --> 00:42:00,319 I mean, I can I can take a stab at. We do have Mark from MB on it, but at our 532 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:06,800 last health insurance trust meeting, um Mark indicated that plan design changes 533 00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:14,480 would cost um it would result in more out-ofpocket expenses for 60 or 2/3% of 534 00:42:11,359 --> 00:42:20,560 users, whereas one-third of users would have overall cost savings. So, yes, if 535 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:23,119 you're a high user of it, it's going to cost more. 536 00:42:21,359 --> 00:42:29,359 » From my recollection, it was around $2,000 from the high users. I just I 537 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,160 just feel like that's not that's not right. 538 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:34,880 » Sure. >> Shouldn't be punishing people for using 539 00:42:31,839 --> 00:42:40,720 it and contributing either retirees portions of their lives and for 540 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:46,374 employees portions of our day. And it just sucks. 541 00:42:44,354 --> 00:42:46,374 [applause] 542 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:55,920 We have another question in the queue here. So, why don't we take one and then 543 00:42:54,079 --> 00:43:00,880 we'll get to the mic. >> Thanks, Chris. So, from Larry Panero, 544 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:04,079 the water enterprise fund allocated a significant amount of funds for 545 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:07,599 postretirement benefit costs. So, there should be plenty of funds available to 546 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:12,079 cover the water department retiree postbenefit expenses. And these costs do 547 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:17,960 not impact the town's deficits. The water department retirees should be 548 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:17,960 excluded from any changes. 549 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:25,119 » So if there are changes, it affects all in the group, right? We're not going to 550 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:29,359 exclude if you're a water department employee or not. I would like to ask Dan 551 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:36,200 to answer the question if he knows the answer about the enterprise and the 552 00:43:31,839 --> 00:43:36,200 contributions to health insurance. 553 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:43,040 So the water enterprise oped fund which is the other post-employment benefits 554 00:43:41,599 --> 00:43:47,920 including health insurance for the water enterprise was fully funded years ago. 555 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:53,119 Uh they it kind of serves as a model for how we want our general fund uh oped 556 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:56,800 account to work in the future. Uh however as I understand it like all of 557 00:43:54,800 --> 00:44:02,040 our our plan changes are the same throughout the entire town for town and 558 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:02,040 schools. 559 00:44:06,079 --> 00:44:11,040 Okay. Well, let's take you at the mic, please. 560 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:15,680 » Thank you. Melanie Jazokus, 26th year uh teacher at Westford Academy. Um I just 561 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:20,880 had and I I think I'm echoing what this young gentleman said about um 562 00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:26,640 discouraging people from seeking help if they need it. Um because I Sean, it 563 00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:31,440 sounded like twothirds of people, you know, may have um that 564 00:44:29,359 --> 00:44:35,520 premium increase or especially if we're going with deductibles now. Um I think 565 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:39,920 that's my biggest concern is that people won't seek the help that they need. Um 566 00:44:38,079 --> 00:44:44,400 and I know at least in the schools, we talk about mental health all the time 567 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:48,560 with students and staff. Um and and that I think concerns me overall is that 568 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:51,839 people just won't seek the help or the treatment that they need if so I guess 569 00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:56,800 it's not really a question. It's more of a statement. Um and I wasn't sure how um 570 00:44:54,720 --> 00:44:59,760 the low user, medium user, and high user was going to be kind of detailed out, 571 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:04,480 but I think that question was answered. So um yeah, I would just have you think 572 00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:07,839 about that. That would be great. Thanks. >> Great. Thank you for your comment. Why 573 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:11,280 don't we take another one from the queue? 574 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:14,960 » Sure. Uh anonymous attendee writes, "Can you please explain exactly how the 575 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:17,520 retirees will be impacted? In some communication, it sounded like the 576 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:22,800 retiree coverage was being discontinued." 577 00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:27,119 So the retirey coverage is absolutely not going to be discontinued. We're not 578 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:33,520 going to be even looking at that right now. With this reset, we are looking at 579 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:38,800 both the active plans and the retiree plans and we'll present those ch 580 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:42,960 potential changes if that occurs. So, we do not have that clearly right now, but 581 00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:46,520 there will not be an elimination of a retiree plan. 582 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:55,280 » Thank you, Kristen. Why don't you go ahead, sir? 583 00:45:52,160 --> 00:46:02,240 » Tim Hall, 51 North Street, retiree. I have a couple of questions. One is where 584 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:05,920 do we rank with those 20 towns as far as percentages? I I know that you said 585 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:11,839 we're on the lower side, but what is the average? Is it 7525? Is it 8020? That's 586 00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:15,680 my first question. >> Okay, why don't we just take that first 587 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:20,240 question? So, as Kristen alluded to earlier with her presentation, uh we do 588 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:27,200 have this information on the town website, there's I mean at least 18 589 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:32,800 pages of comparison data ranging from the employee and the town's 590 00:46:29,359 --> 00:46:35,920 contributions to the premium cost and I did we ever get the deductible 591 00:46:34,319 --> 00:46:38,880 information in there as well? No, that is not. That will be coming in in a 592 00:46:37,119 --> 00:46:43,280 future iteration. So, there's at least two or three ways that this can be 593 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:47,839 looked at uh depending on which plans that you use um and whether or not 594 00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:52,000 you're using a family versus you're a single consumer. So, to go over that in 595 00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:56,160 a lot of detail here is probably outside the scope of this meeting. Um but it is 596 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:59,920 available to you uh to consume and if you have questions, I would recommend 597 00:46:57,599 --> 00:47:04,000 talking with the town manager's office. >> Okay. Thank you. 598 00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:08,480 » Yeah. My second question is is coming in here this today. Um I did bump into a 599 00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:14,800 couple of employees from the school department and I want to know if I know 600 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:18,319 Pam Hicks and Kristen has made good efforts to make sure that the 601 00:47:16,079 --> 00:47:25,280 communication but these people told me that nobody's heard of it. So I where 602 00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:31,280 Pam is the head of HR here with the town side, the assistant superintendent is 603 00:47:28,319 --> 00:47:37,440 the head of the HR side for the schools, which is also our biggest employee base 604 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:41,920 and the biggest retiree base. Are they making sure that their notifications are 605 00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:46,319 getting out there as well? >> Thank you. Um, I can tell you that Pam 606 00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:51,680 Hicks sent an email to all town and school employees two weeks ago. I did as 607 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:55,839 well earlier this week. I understand that not all school employees are 608 00:47:53,839 --> 00:48:00,720 checking their email because it is summertime. So I did get a lot of reply 609 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:06,319 automatic replies that they were out of the office. Courtney Moran was aware of 610 00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:09,280 this meeting. Um I am not aware if she had any additional outreach to the 611 00:48:07,839 --> 00:48:11,200 teachers. I can't answer that question. It's 612 00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:16,000 » not just the teachers. It's >> some sorry I do not know if Courtney had 613 00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:20,520 any additional correspondence with the additional staff. Again, 614 00:48:21,599 --> 00:48:26,400 that was a great question and you know, we've definitely uh know that 615 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:29,359 communication is a challenge, not just on this issue, but with a lot of things 616 00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:35,280 that the town does and we're continuing to look to improve our avenues to get 617 00:48:32,319 --> 00:48:40,800 out the word to the residents uh and retirees in this case. Um I will say 618 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:44,559 that with this new timeline, uh a lot of the action, so to speak, will start to 619 00:48:42,559 --> 00:48:48,880 take place when school is back in session. So I think that communication 620 00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:55,040 challenge might lessen a little bit but we remain 100% committed to improve 621 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:59,520 communication levels to the best that we are able. I mean that is 100% something 622 00:48:57,359 --> 00:49:03,599 that this board has been behind from uh the time that I've been there and this 623 00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:07,280 particular situation is no exception and it actually proves that you know we 624 00:49:05,599 --> 00:49:10,240 still need to do better. So uh we appreciate your patience and we are 625 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:14,319 going to try to do better in the future with communication. Uh why don't we take 626 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:18,640 a question from the queue here. Hang on one second, Captain. Uh, so just a 627 00:49:16,319 --> 00:49:22,480 followup from Jesse Byer. My original question is in regards to actual dollars 628 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:26,880 the town contributes. In several cases, we are even below our GIC community 629 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:31,280 peers in what the town contributes. The slide shows below mid already before 630 00:49:29,119 --> 00:49:35,559 changes. Um, not really a question there, but Jesse, thank you for the 631 00:49:32,559 --> 00:49:35,559 followup. 632 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:43,599 » Okay, thank you Jesse. Uh, next at the mic. 633 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:48,000 » Um, my name is Brandon Holmes. um the town resident and work for the police 634 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:53,200 department. Uh my question is is um we've already the health insurance trust 635 00:49:50,319 --> 00:49:56,960 has voted to move $950,000 back over to the town fund and we're projected to 636 00:49:55,520 --> 00:50:02,319 save over a million dollars from reducing GLP ones from our coverage. Um 637 00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:06,640 that's almost $2 million. Is there a target budget line that you're looking 638 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:10,800 to save um like an end goal or is it just overall? I just was curious on how 639 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:15,040 deep we're looking to go on the savings side. Thank you. 640 00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:22,480 Uh that's a great question. I think at this point uh we are not able to give a 641 00:50:18,559 --> 00:50:27,760 hard number. Um we recognize or we are aware at this point that we are 642 00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:32,960 potentially facing significant budget challenges for FY28. Uh that is still 643 00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:38,400 you know quite some time away and we're going to see some changes in our expect 644 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:45,359 our projections between now and then. Um but we we do know that that 645 00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:51,280 is a fairly substantial deficit at this time. So we are looking to you know save 646 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:54,640 wherever we can. Um do we have any other questions 647 00:50:53,119 --> 00:51:02,160 » Mark? Okay. 648 00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:08,640 » Hi Ellen Rainville the library director and insurance is not my favorite reading 649 00:51:04,559 --> 00:51:14,160 genre. I have found that out. So I have some comments. Um 650 00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:20,800 I think that employees now are under the impression that as we move employees on 651 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:26,800 that side of the ledger closer to the market basket, 652 00:51:23,119 --> 00:51:32,240 we aren't seeing what equal action is being taken on the town side of the 653 00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:37,520 ledger. So, if there could be a consideration of the town paying a 654 00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:42,000 higher percentage as we absorb non-pretax, 655 00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:48,960 non-predictable costs in terms of co-pays and in terms of um deductibles. 656 00:51:46,800 --> 00:51:53,440 I think that would be most of us would agree that would be the fair thing to 657 00:51:50,480 --> 00:52:00,160 the employees. On the face of it, when I read the 170 pages and everything else, 658 00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:04,960 it seemed like we had a comprehensive plan that was costly, but because 659 00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:09,920 employees were paying such a high percentage, we were getting what we paid 660 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:16,400 for. So, I'm glad to hear for the first time that the actual cost that the town 661 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:23,040 pays is average because I don't think I saw that data and I also never saw the 662 00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:27,440 data of how many subscribers were in the insurance 663 00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:32,960 um plans of other towns. So, for example, I couldn't compute what the 664 00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:37,440 cost per subscriber was from community to community. 665 00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:42,960 I did go down another rabbit hole to see if everyone in the GIC had a AAA bond 666 00:52:40,079 --> 00:52:50,559 rating and they don't and I would wonder if joining the GIC would impact our bond 667 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:56,240 rating. Um I also respectfully ask us not to talk about transferring costs to 668 00:52:53,520 --> 00:53:01,599 employees as an efficiency. We don't see it as an efficiency. We see 669 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:06,319 it as a migrated cost that we're being asked to assume. 670 00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:10,400 And finally, and I know this is not always popular when I bring this up, but 671 00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:16,240 I'm an old feminist, so I'm going to say it. My mother sent me the first issue of 672 00:53:13,359 --> 00:53:20,880 Miz Magazine when I was in college. When I looked at your demographics of those 673 00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:28,079 of us who are being covered by health insurance, it's predominantly female. 674 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:33,280 I looked at age, I looked at gender. So I just want to remind us, you know, as 675 00:53:30,480 --> 00:53:38,559 we are aging into the retirement group, we have an age that's more associated 676 00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:43,280 with illness. Women have earned only 82 cents for 677 00:53:41,200 --> 00:53:48,559 every dollar of males. They are likely to live longer. They are likely to 678 00:53:45,119 --> 00:53:54,960 outlive their spouses. And so I am also concerned as a female about the cost to 679 00:53:52,559 --> 00:53:57,960 the women who are retiring out of the town. 680 00:53:58,357 --> 00:54:00,377 » [applause] 681 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:10,559 » Thank you for that feedback, Ellen. Appreciate it. 682 00:54:08,240 --> 00:54:13,680 » Thank you, Ellen. Um, I just had two questions. Now, my name is Jennifer 683 00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:18,480 Clero and I work as the director of the Cameron Senior Center. Um, when you were 684 00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:23,280 doing the market basket, I was just wondering, did you look at the other 685 00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:28,319 benefits that the other towns um were providing such as short-term disability, 686 00:54:25,839 --> 00:54:31,280 dental, visual, I mean, vision, long-term disability, because I know 687 00:54:29,839 --> 00:54:36,880 that's something that we're we're having to absorb on top of our premiums. 688 00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:41,680 Um, can anybody speak to that? >> Jennifer, I can help answer that. So, 689 00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:46,000 this market basket comparison is purely health insurance. uh we have had a 690 00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:49,280 discussion with hub to review the market basket related to those other 691 00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:53,359 insuranceances. They are working on it but it does take time because there are 692 00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:56,160 so many in intricacies. So we do anticipate eventually being able to 693 00:54:55,200 --> 00:55:00,559 present that data. >> Okay. And then my follow-up question 694 00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:05,680 would be you know on your long-term planning um what other revenue analysis 695 00:55:04,079 --> 00:55:09,359 are you doing outside of health insurance that we haven't heard about 696 00:55:07,119 --> 00:55:14,800 today? I know we're focusing a lot on health insurance. Are there some other 697 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:19,599 new revenue ideas that you have outside of health insurance? 698 00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:25,040 » I can answer that Chris if that's okay. So yes, there are a number of other 699 00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:29,839 items that we are pursuing related to revenue generation. Um if you attended 700 00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:33,520 town meeting or uh have been following along the economic development committee 701 00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:38,000 and the land use management department is actively pursuing additional 702 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:42,800 businesses and understanding how we can grow our commercial base. Uh we recently 703 00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:47,119 completed two corridor studies that speak to that. Uh we know that we will 704 00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:51,839 have additional new growth in the coming years related to the permitted projects 705 00:55:49,359 --> 00:55:57,359 at 219 Littleton Road, the former Westward Regency and 37 Powers Road. We 706 00:55:55,119 --> 00:56:00,960 know that comes with additional services needed with police and fire and 707 00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:04,960 potential schools, but there will be new growth potential there. Um and there are 708 00:56:03,599 --> 00:56:08,880 other things that we're working on related to revenue. I noted in the 709 00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:13,359 presentation, we're going to be we have started and going to continue a full fee 710 00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:17,040 analysis and understanding where those fees may hit. Is it a business owner? Is 711 00:56:15,280 --> 00:56:20,400 it a resident? Is it somewhere else? So, that's just a a brief menu of some of 712 00:56:19,119 --> 00:56:23,960 the things that we're working on. So, hopefully that helps. 713 00:56:24,799 --> 00:56:32,400 » And just one more thing to add, um this has come up in the past, not necessarily 714 00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:39,440 specific to this topic, but just in general to taxes. So, we do have a new 715 00:56:36,319 --> 00:56:46,559 uh working group that's looking at how Westbird aortions its tax rates across 716 00:56:42,799 --> 00:56:50,480 residential, commercial, industrial. Um that group started a few probably now 717 00:56:48,720 --> 00:56:55,599 about six, seven weeks ago. They're feverishly trying to get that analysis 718 00:56:52,880 --> 00:57:00,880 done. Um so a lot of people have come to us and say hey why don't we have a split 719 00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:06,640 tax rate for example or other types of programs that help uh ease the burden on 720 00:57:03,760 --> 00:57:10,079 say maybe senior citizens uh that are residents of this community. So please 721 00:57:08,319 --> 00:57:13,119 keep an eye out for the results of that effort because I do think it will be 722 00:57:11,599 --> 00:57:16,799 helpful for answering some questions that I've seen posed in some of the 723 00:57:15,119 --> 00:57:21,520 emails that we've gotten. The other thing that I just wanted to just point 724 00:57:18,319 --> 00:57:25,599 out is and this is related Ellen to your question. Mike, can you just hold up 725 00:57:23,599 --> 00:57:29,119 that blue chart? I believe that's part of the packet and this this is the the 726 00:57:27,359 --> 00:57:32,799 what we've sort of been talking about in terms of the market basket comparison. 727 00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:37,040 You can kind of see how thick it is. So, this is what's going to allow us to 728 00:57:34,720 --> 00:57:41,839 visually allow you all as well to visually see where we are for the 729 00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:47,119 different plans. uh again the different types of analysis being whether it's uh 730 00:57:44,319 --> 00:57:52,559 contribution analysis or contribution uh percentage um or premium and that's 731 00:57:49,839 --> 00:57:57,359 going to go and be broken down by both family and single-user plan. So a lot of 732 00:57:54,960 --> 00:58:01,599 rich data there for for you to consume and if you have again any questions uh 733 00:57:59,520 --> 00:58:05,760 town manager's office or any of the select board members would welcome those 734 00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:10,520 questions. Uh do we have any other uh we do have some more questions come in. 735 00:58:07,520 --> 00:58:10,520 Yeah. 736 00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:21,599 » I'm going to give that to you. >> Tom Clay again. Just another example, 737 00:58:19,599 --> 00:58:24,960 Ellen, of of places that were looking at addressing long-term structural 738 00:58:23,119 --> 00:58:28,880 challenges. So, pay as you throw came out of that effort. It was recommended 739 00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:33,119 as something to look at um uh by the budget task force. The idea was how do 740 00:58:31,599 --> 00:58:37,119 we cost share basically with the residents in this case to make sure that 741 00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:40,480 over a long period of time we're not uh spending more and more on trash at the 742 00:58:38,720 --> 00:58:45,280 expense of first responders, teachers and all the other valuable services that 743 00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:47,680 we have. So uh if you if you uh if you have the time and interest you can look 744 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:52,240 in the budget task force that actually gives a long list of uh of revenue 745 00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:56,079 source things that we investigate. Some of them we've already done, some of them 746 00:58:53,680 --> 00:59:00,599 are pending, but u lots of effort there and an important thing for us to be 747 00:58:57,359 --> 00:59:00,599 focused on. 748 00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:07,920 Thank you, Tom, for that additional context. All right, we're going to take 749 00:59:04,880 --> 00:59:11,200 another question from our queue. There's a comment first. I'll just read 750 00:59:09,520 --> 00:59:15,200 from an anonymous attendee. Not all employees have Westford K12 or Westford 751 00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:18,880 MA.gov emails. There is a pool of employees who were not notified of this 752 00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:23,599 meeting. Have employees go look for information rather than pushing it out 753 00:59:20,319 --> 00:59:29,200 is putting the burden on the employees. Um, 754 00:59:26,480 --> 00:59:35,200 question. Yeah. >> So, if that is the case, um if you could 755 00:59:31,599 --> 00:59:39,280 contact TMAA westwardmma.gov with that information, we would like to put you on 756 00:59:36,880 --> 00:59:43,200 our email list. Also, please sign up for notifications. Um I was not aware of 757 00:59:41,359 --> 00:59:49,839 that. So, please so thank you for making that comment this evening. Um and we 758 00:59:45,599 --> 00:59:59,680 will do our best to get you on a list. >> That is a fact. And I think the uh the 759 00:59:54,799 --> 01:00:04,880 school office has a list of all non uh email 760 01:00:01,440 --> 01:00:07,599 uh employees and >> we can certainly reach out to the 761 01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:11,440 schools and make sure we're taking advantage of every opportunity to reach 762 01:00:09,520 --> 01:00:15,520 people. Well, let me just reiterate what the gentleman said of the how. 763 01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:22,240 » Uh he did mention that the school maintains a list of emails for uh 764 01:00:18,720 --> 01:00:26,480 employees that do not have access uh to town or school emails. So, we'll we'll 765 01:00:23,920 --> 01:00:31,040 reach out to uh to Courtney and Dr. Chu and make sure we take advantage of that. 766 01:00:28,480 --> 01:00:34,079 We're we are taking every opportunity we can, but we have to know how to get in 767 01:00:32,720 --> 01:00:39,040 touch with people. We have posted flyers. We have put things in break 768 01:00:35,760 --> 01:00:43,280 rooms, um locker rooms, restrooms, etc. So, social media, we we're doing 769 01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:46,400 everything we can, but you can help us get the information out if you can feed 770 01:00:44,799 --> 01:00:50,680 it to us how we can get in touch with people. So, thank you. Um, 771 01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:56,000 » so Mark, I I see that you're maybe waiting in the wings. Do you want us to 772 01:00:54,319 --> 01:01:00,000 take some more questions? Okay. All right. Go ahead. 773 01:00:58,000 --> 01:01:03,760 » So, next question, uh, from Nate McKinnon. Isn't it true that the report 774 01:01:01,839 --> 01:01:07,839 to the town indicated that Westford had the highest total cost per employees for 775 01:01:05,520 --> 01:01:12,960 the HMO plan compared to all other communities? The HMO accounts for 59% of 776 01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:17,520 our total enroles. This report indicates that for our most subscribed plan, we 777 01:01:15,440 --> 01:01:21,040 pay more for individual and family plans than all other communities. Given this, 778 01:01:19,599 --> 01:01:24,680 what is the source of information that we paying average? 779 01:01:26,319 --> 01:01:34,559 » So, we're just pulling the page number from the report. So Mike, if you can 780 01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:38,880 find it and give me the page number. >> So pages seven and eight. 781 01:01:37,200 --> 01:01:43,040 » Okay. So we are looking at if you're looking at the packet, the market basket 782 01:01:40,960 --> 01:01:50,119 contribution rates and monthly contributions. 783 01:01:45,040 --> 01:01:50,119 pages seven and eight out of 28 784 01:01:51,280 --> 01:01:58,480 that shows that Westford is below in employer dollar amount contribution for 785 01:01:56,640 --> 01:02:07,480 single and HMO employer contribution family. 786 01:02:02,480 --> 01:02:07,480 Westford is also below market basket. 787 01:02:10,160 --> 01:02:14,440 » The premium >> total premium. 788 01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:17,960 » Yes. 789 01:02:18,079 --> 01:02:21,400 » Take this back. 790 01:02:24,079 --> 01:02:30,520 » Uh just give us a qu a second to see if we can bring that up on the screen here. 791 01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:41,920 So this is a 28page PDF uh market basket, premium rate and contribution 792 01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:49,720 analysis. It goes through HMO, PO, HSA. Uh this particular file does not include 793 01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:49,720 retiree but retiree is a separate file. 794 01:02:50,160 --> 01:02:56,559 So the HMO employer contribution percent for single Westford is going to be in 795 01:02:55,119 --> 01:03:00,559 green. I'm going to decrease this a little bit just so you can see the 796 01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:05,000 chart. Westford is at the lowest at 60%. 797 01:03:05,280 --> 01:03:14,760 HMO employer contribution percent family. 798 01:03:09,760 --> 01:03:14,760 Westford is towards the bottom at 65%. 799 01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:24,440 HMO employee contribution percent single. 800 01:03:20,079 --> 01:03:24,440 Westford is at uh the top. 801 01:03:25,119 --> 01:03:34,119 HMO employee contrib contribution percent family. 802 01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:34,119 Westford is towards the top. 803 01:03:34,799 --> 01:03:44,720 HMO full monthly premium for the single employee. There's two HMO plans. There's 804 01:03:40,240 --> 01:03:52,079 a high and a low and those are in green. Just tell me when to stop. pull me up. 805 01:03:47,920 --> 01:03:55,720 HMO monthly full premium for a family towards the top 806 01:03:58,559 --> 01:04:02,760 HMO employer contribution. 807 01:04:04,880 --> 01:04:10,400 Okay, since Kristen did mention this is 28 pages, just to show a hands, we were 808 01:04:09,119 --> 01:04:12,799 be happy to to go through the rest of these slides, but if people are not 809 01:04:11,680 --> 01:04:16,319 interested and just want to look at this data on their own, we'll let them do 810 01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:19,599 that. I think we've answered the the point that Nate made. I'm not seeing any 811 01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:22,839 hands, so why don't we move on to the next question. 812 01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:29,520 Looks like Mark's not at the stand, so we'll just keep rolling through these. 813 01:04:28,160 --> 01:04:34,160 » Go ahead. >> So, Larry Panero again writes, "Has the 814 01:04:32,400 --> 01:04:39,680 town ever considered to change the tax rate for businesses? Currently, they pay 815 01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:43,839 the same rate as the residential rate." So, the town did have a study committee 816 01:04:41,839 --> 01:04:48,240 uh I believe in 2010 that reviewed that and they decided not to change it. Uh 817 01:04:46,079 --> 01:04:52,400 every year in November, the select board hears from the chief assessor and they 818 01:04:50,160 --> 01:04:56,639 hold a tax classification hearing to decide if they would change the rate or 819 01:04:54,000 --> 01:05:00,079 not. Right now, as excuse me, [clears throat] as Chris alluded to or 820 01:04:58,480 --> 01:05:04,880 others on the select board alluded to, there is another study committee looking 821 01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:10,880 at the tax rate uh related to residential and commercial splits. 822 01:05:08,160 --> 01:05:15,599 It doesn't change the >> it would shift the burden to the 823 01:05:12,720 --> 01:05:19,440 businesses uh off the residential. Um the amount that we raise stays the same. 824 01:05:17,440 --> 01:05:22,599 We can only raise by 2 and a half% plus new growth. 825 01:05:24,160 --> 01:05:29,119 » Okay, we now have somebody at the mic. Let's turn it over to this gentleman. 826 01:05:27,680 --> 01:05:34,640 Please let us know who you are. >> Uh Mark Cost, uh chair of the finance 827 01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:38,880 committee for a long time, member of the select board and chair capital committee 828 01:05:36,400 --> 01:05:45,200 forever. Uh, first of all, thank you for acknowledging the communication issues 829 01:05:42,799 --> 01:05:50,160 um, not only with the select board, but I have to admit also with the health 830 01:05:46,880 --> 01:05:54,319 insurance trust in informing the public about what was happening, when it was 831 01:05:52,400 --> 01:05:58,799 happening, and feeling like it was a rush to get a job done. And I'm glad to 832 01:05:56,640 --> 01:06:04,720 hear that some of these changes have at least been deferred. 833 01:06:01,039 --> 01:06:09,200 Um, second of all, the issue of our expenses rising more than Prop 2 and 834 01:06:06,880 --> 01:06:15,680 a half are not new. They've been going on at least since 2008 when I started to 835 01:06:13,039 --> 01:06:20,720 get involved. This has been an ongoing issue. So, this is not new. It's not new 836 01:06:18,880 --> 01:06:25,200 to the schools. It's not new to the town departments and it's certainly not new 837 01:06:22,480 --> 01:06:29,920 as it relates to health insurance. Um, 838 01:06:27,200 --> 01:06:32,160 lastly, so these are more comments that question, which is probably not a 839 01:06:31,039 --> 01:06:36,240 surprise to you. First of all, Chris, thanks for acknowledging the 100 plus 840 01:06:34,240 --> 01:06:43,680 emails. I'm sure most of those were from me, if not uh not all. Um, 841 01:06:41,680 --> 01:06:52,640 making decisions about health insurance costs outside of a budget process seems 842 01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:58,160 completely incoherent to me. to do this and not have the taxpayers in town 843 01:06:55,599 --> 01:07:04,799 understand the other choices that could be made outside of the costs of changing 844 01:07:02,240 --> 01:07:10,160 people's health insurance cost seems completely wrong. So I would encourage 845 01:07:07,760 --> 01:07:14,640 you I saw these I was hoping to hear nothing was happening this fall but to 846 01:07:12,640 --> 01:07:19,359 see that some things could still happen this fall outside of the taxpayer 847 01:07:17,520 --> 01:07:24,799 understanding what's happened into their costs going into next fiscal uh I don't 848 01:07:23,359 --> 01:07:31,359 understand that. So I'd ask you to reconsider the timeline. Thank you. 849 01:07:29,200 --> 01:07:36,000 » Oh okay. Uh thank you very much for those comments Mark. Uh we do have some 850 01:07:33,520 --> 01:07:39,039 additional copies of the presentation and meeting material. So if you're still 851 01:07:37,760 --> 01:07:43,680 looking for that, just raise your hand and this gentleman here will bring them 852 01:07:40,880 --> 01:07:46,680 over to you. Okay. 853 01:07:47,119 --> 01:07:51,599 Well, we have we have plenty more questions. Okay. We have somebody else 854 01:07:50,319 --> 01:07:53,920 at the mic, so why don't we go ahead and take you and then we'll get to our 855 01:07:53,200 --> 01:07:58,559 online questions. >> Hi, my name is Caren Wilkins. I'm in my 856 01:07:56,160 --> 01:08:03,119 13th year at Blanchard Middle School. Um, it's more of a I just want to see if 857 01:08:01,280 --> 01:08:06,240 you can comment on the survey that went out to the employees because I'm not 858 01:08:04,720 --> 01:08:11,359 sure if everybody heard that. I did hear it at the trustee meeting um a couple 859 01:08:09,119 --> 01:08:14,880 months ago, but I did hear um I thought that those answers were really 860 01:08:13,119 --> 01:08:18,080 interesting and I think that we should take that into consideration a lot when 861 01:08:16,400 --> 01:08:21,759 we're talking about employee retention since you were talking about employee 862 01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:25,759 retention being really really important. Um, and I just want to take into 863 01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:28,480 consideration like the way that the employees are feeling about this because 864 01:08:27,279 --> 01:08:32,319 it seemed like those are really high numbers um, in that survey. So, I didn't 865 01:08:31,040 --> 01:08:36,719 know if you might be able to share some of those numbers with everybody. So, I 866 01:08:34,960 --> 01:08:41,600 can comment that we did send out a survey last um, summer and fall. Uh, I 867 01:08:40,159 --> 01:08:45,600 unfortunately don't have those numbers in front of me now, but they are uh, 868 01:08:43,839 --> 01:08:48,960 posted. We're able to get them to you if you need. Uh, and those were taken into 869 01:08:47,359 --> 01:08:52,400 consideration when Lockton prepared their report. If you have any other 870 01:08:50,560 --> 01:08:55,359 specific questions, I'm happy to to talk with you about that. 871 01:08:53,759 --> 01:08:59,359 » Well, I just think it's important to say like employees, you know, in order to 872 01:08:57,440 --> 01:09:03,600 retain employees and we have a lot of employees and they're hoping that the 873 01:09:00,640 --> 01:09:08,799 insurance stays similar to what we have. Um, I just think that's an important 874 01:09:05,120 --> 01:09:14,080 thing to take into consideration um just getting people in as employees, you 875 01:09:11,920 --> 01:09:21,960 know, getting new employees in and repaying what they already have. The 876 01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:21,960 insurance is a huge deal for that. Sure. 877 01:09:22,400 --> 01:09:27,359 So, she's just talking about that the survey results she wants to make sure 878 01:09:25,600 --> 01:09:31,359 that people understand that employees were mostly satisfied with the health 879 01:09:29,359 --> 01:09:36,359 insurance and want to maintain what they have now, which I understand. Thank you 880 01:09:33,120 --> 01:09:36,359 very much. 881 01:09:36,960 --> 01:09:42,960 » Took a question from online from Ed KBY. Can you please share with the retiree 882 01:09:41,199 --> 01:09:47,199 population the links to the online webinar materials as well as the various 883 01:09:44,880 --> 01:09:51,839 select board reports you referenced today? Uh they are all currently shared 884 01:09:50,080 --> 01:09:55,920 uh on the town's website in a few places. One on the health insurance 885 01:09:53,279 --> 01:10:00,719 trust website link directly uh but also you can go to the do to the document 886 01:09:58,400 --> 01:10:05,520 center and find the individual packet item. So everything is posted if you 887 01:10:02,560 --> 01:10:09,960 have any trouble finding that. Um please feel free to email or call our office. 888 01:10:10,400 --> 01:10:15,520 » I think did you have a point? >> I just had a quick Y 889 01:10:13,199 --> 01:10:19,679 » I just had a quick question Mike. So, I know that we sent um we pushed out 890 01:10:18,239 --> 01:10:23,760 notice of this meeting. I'm wondering if we could just push out to everyone who 891 01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:26,880 we we have access to a link to these materials just to save them the trouble 892 01:10:25,280 --> 01:10:33,120 of hunting and pecking through the through the website. 893 01:10:29,520 --> 01:10:37,120 » We did already. Okay. Thank you. >> Uh Tom, thank you very much for that 894 01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:42,320 comment. I do want to also add uh this is obviously a topic of interest for 895 01:10:39,840 --> 01:10:46,239 lots of people. Um, I I think maybe if we could make an effort to put something 896 01:10:44,320 --> 01:10:50,320 on the homepage so people aren't trying to navigate to find it, especially 897 01:10:48,960 --> 01:10:53,360 people who are not familiar with our website. Let's see if we can make it a 898 01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:57,520 little bit easier for folks to to get to this information. 899 01:10:55,520 --> 01:11:00,239 » And we can absolutely, again, in reference to that gentleman's comment, 900 01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:02,880 we can reach out to the schools, see if they have additional emails, and then 901 01:11:01,679 --> 01:11:07,080 the things that we have previously pushed out, we can push out again. 902 01:11:09,120 --> 01:11:16,560 take a question from the microphone. >> Hi, Nicole Keefe. I've been at day 903 01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:21,679 school teacher for 28 years. I just I appreciate the pushing off the timeline 904 01:11:19,440 --> 01:11:25,679 uh till March, but and I'm also appreciative to hear that you're looking 905 01:11:23,199 --> 01:11:30,880 having a committee look at the tax base or the the rate between businesses and 906 01:11:27,840 --> 01:11:36,000 residents. But I'm curious what's the timeline for that committee 907 01:11:33,280 --> 01:11:41,120 and why wouldn't you look at those pieces first before implementing health 908 01:11:38,880 --> 01:11:44,560 insurance changes to all the employees? >> Sure. So the select board set the 909 01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:50,560 deadline for the tax working group to report back in August of 2026. So within 910 01:11:47,840 --> 01:11:57,400 the next month. So that will be coming uh and we have to look at all of these 911 01:11:52,480 --> 01:11:57,400 things in tandem as they all layer in. 912 01:11:59,120 --> 01:12:04,320 I just wanted to uh it took again took me a little while to understand how the 913 01:12:02,400 --> 01:12:08,800 tax classification works. I just want to emphasize something that uh came up 914 01:12:05,920 --> 01:12:12,560 before. So we do have the ability once a year during the tax classification 915 01:12:10,320 --> 01:12:16,719 hearing to to choose the allocation of burden between residents and commercial 916 01:12:14,640 --> 01:12:20,480 taxpayers. But that doesn't affect the total amount collected. The total amount 917 01:12:18,880 --> 01:12:25,600 collected that we can use which is called the levy uh that is basically 918 01:12:23,600 --> 01:12:29,520 capped at this 2 and a half%. So the only change we can make is who pays how 919 01:12:27,760 --> 01:12:32,800 much. So it would affect the residents and how much they pay in taxes or the 920 01:12:31,199 --> 01:12:37,520 businesses and how much they they pay, but it wouldn't change the available 921 01:12:34,159 --> 01:12:41,199 funds. So just just to make it clear, and we will look at this again, the 922 01:12:39,520 --> 01:12:46,239 reason that we decided to keep it the same between commercial and residential 923 01:12:43,760 --> 01:12:51,679 when we reviewed this in 2010 was because Westford is now about 90% 924 01:12:48,480 --> 01:12:57,199 residential, 10% commercial. So in order to make a $1 difference for residents, 925 01:12:55,040 --> 01:13:02,000 we have to make a 10. If we offset $1 for residents, that raises the 926 01:12:59,199 --> 01:13:06,400 commercial by 10. And so it has a huge effect on the commercial to make any 927 01:13:03,600 --> 01:13:09,120 real difference for the resident. And the other issue is we want to make sure 928 01:13:07,920 --> 01:13:11,520 we're competitive and attracting businesses. We want to make sure that 929 01:13:10,400 --> 01:13:15,120 when people are choosing where to locate, they don't see any disadvantage 930 01:13:13,440 --> 01:13:18,800 coming to Westford. At the time that we looked at it, other communities like us 931 01:13:17,199 --> 01:13:24,560 that had the same kind of, you know, office type uh commercial property 932 01:13:21,199 --> 01:13:28,560 footprint had similar uh tax rate had had also had a the same same tax rate 933 01:13:26,960 --> 01:13:33,600 between residents. So those are the things that uh that are at stake here. 934 01:13:31,120 --> 01:13:36,239 Please join in the the tax uh classification committee that's doing 935 01:13:34,880 --> 01:13:39,440 the study now if you're interested in that. But just to make it clear that 936 01:13:37,520 --> 01:13:43,239 that's an allocation issue, not a total dollars raised issue. 937 01:13:43,679 --> 01:13:49,679 Uh thank you Tom for breaking that down for us. Really helpful. Uh I will also 938 01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:54,239 add to his comments and I think you know Kristen did mention this is that we we 939 01:13:52,080 --> 01:13:59,520 do have a wonderful economic development committee in this community uh that 940 01:13:56,320 --> 01:14:06,880 works very very hard to try to enhance Westford as a place that businesses want 941 01:14:02,560 --> 01:14:12,320 to do business in. Um and we have spent funds to hire consultants to work with 942 01:14:09,679 --> 01:14:16,400 that group over the last was it about 18 months at this point uh to see if we can 943 01:14:14,320 --> 01:14:21,600 continue to grow our commercial base because we know that is one way that we 944 01:14:18,320 --> 01:14:25,760 can uh try to offset the burden on our residents. Okay, we have another 945 01:14:23,760 --> 01:14:29,679 question online. >> We do and this is a long question 946 01:14:27,840 --> 01:14:32,480 followed by a comment. So, I'm going to ask I'm going to read the question. 947 01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:35,600 We'll answer it and then I can respond with the remainder of the comment. I'm 948 01:14:34,080 --> 01:14:39,840 sorry if I missed introductions, but what is Mark Chrysatelli's position in 949 01:14:37,679 --> 01:14:42,960 the town? He works or used to work in the insurance industry. I'm confused by 950 01:14:41,520 --> 01:14:49,400 his answer to the question about considering other providers than BCS in 951 01:14:45,760 --> 01:14:49,400 order to save money. 952 01:14:50,239 --> 01:15:00,120 So, Mark Christelli works for Hub. The town of Westford has hired Hub to be our 953 01:14:56,480 --> 01:15:00,120 insurance broker. 954 01:15:00,239 --> 01:15:06,239 And following up on that, now that that question was answered, uh even if it 955 01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:09,920 saves 15 or if it's only 15% of total cost, it still makes sense to me to 956 01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:13,360 consider the option of shopping around, especially since when we used to do this 957 01:15:11,520 --> 01:15:17,199 years ago, we did not have this problem of affording health insurance. Premiums 958 01:15:15,520 --> 01:15:21,360 have been increasing astronomically since we have been staying with BCBS. 959 01:15:19,440 --> 01:15:25,760 The market basket analysis shows the town who spends much less on health 960 01:15:23,760 --> 01:15:29,360 insurance than we do have other insurance companies. Please consider 961 01:15:27,520 --> 01:15:32,400 saving costs by shopping around rather than deferring costs onto employees. 962 01:15:31,440 --> 01:15:35,400 Thank you for your time and consideration. 963 01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:41,600 Uh we have one further question from Sandy Collins. As you discussed today, 964 01:15:40,320 --> 01:15:47,040 the possibility of increasing deductibles, excuse me, or premiums for 965 01:15:44,960 --> 01:15:50,880 higher users as an option. I'm very concerned that as retirees they're no 966 01:15:49,120 --> 01:15:54,560 longer working, they will be adversely impacted at a time they may need 967 01:15:52,480 --> 01:15:58,080 insurance the most. Also, please although the effort in obtaining data is 968 01:15:56,320 --> 01:16:02,320 appreciated and necessary, would you request a one to two-page comparison of 969 01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:06,320 benefits and services, premium costs for individuals, families, and deductible 970 01:16:04,239 --> 01:16:09,320 impacts so rational decisions can be made? 971 01:16:10,719 --> 01:16:18,000 » Uh Sandy, thank you for the question. Um, as as we've talked about already, it 972 01:16:15,360 --> 01:16:21,840 is not as easy as, you know, just bringing a one to two-page analysis into 973 01:16:20,400 --> 01:16:26,320 play here. We've just already highlighted the 28page, you know, 974 01:16:24,080 --> 01:16:30,640 analysis that we have and as we get deeper into the plan design changes, uh, 975 01:16:28,880 --> 01:16:34,719 that makes it even more difficult, but we will do our very best to try to, um, 976 01:16:33,360 --> 01:16:39,520 you know, make it as readable and digestible for everyone as possible. So, 977 01:16:37,040 --> 01:16:43,840 thank you for that feedback. We have a question at the mic. 978 01:16:40,640 --> 01:16:48,640 » Uh, Diane Wood, 122 depot. Uh, I want to reinforce, and I'm sure everybody else 979 01:16:45,520 --> 01:16:53,679 does, the the need for much greater communication, especially as it relates 980 01:16:50,880 --> 01:16:59,360 to the general community. Uh, I suspect 99% of the people in this room are 981 01:16:55,840 --> 01:17:06,880 either employees or retirees. I I don't see representation from the community or 982 01:17:01,360 --> 01:17:10,480 at least visibility or or comments. Um, so more communication. there should 983 01:17:08,960 --> 01:17:15,280 there should have been more communicate more um visibility from the community 984 01:17:13,520 --> 01:17:20,719 more people in this room who don't represent employees or or retirees and I 985 01:17:18,880 --> 01:17:24,080 think you need both sides because I would say most of the people don't 986 01:17:22,239 --> 01:17:28,960 understand all the details that are going on right now. So just reinforcing 987 01:17:27,040 --> 01:17:33,920 the stronger need and I know there's just so much you can do. However, um 988 01:17:32,239 --> 01:17:39,040 that's a segment of the community that really needs to better understand how 989 01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:44,080 this will impact them. And I don't think 99% of the people who are not employees 990 01:17:41,679 --> 01:17:48,719 understands that. Thanks. >> Thank you so much, Diane. Um I had a 991 01:17:47,040 --> 01:17:52,320 conversation with the select board a few weeks ago that I thought it was a good 992 01:17:50,640 --> 01:17:56,400 idea to have a listening session with the employees and the retirees. So that 993 01:17:54,080 --> 01:18:00,159 meeting today is a target meeting for employees and retirees. We will 994 01:17:58,400 --> 01:18:04,960 definitely have more re more meetings and outreach to the residents, but this 995 01:18:02,640 --> 01:18:09,360 meeting today after my discussions with the board was really targeted towards 996 01:18:06,800 --> 01:18:13,840 retirees and employees. So, just to reiterate that, 997 01:18:12,560 --> 01:18:17,120 » yeah, Diane, thank you very much for that question and a great answer, 998 01:18:15,360 --> 01:18:22,400 Kristen. And, you know, as we've heard many times, we are going to try to keep 999 01:18:19,360 --> 01:18:26,719 the communication avenue as open and uh and people as engaged as possible. 1000 01:18:24,719 --> 01:18:31,840 Another question at the mic. Nina Mangan, retiree, Westward resident. Um, 1001 01:18:30,400 --> 01:18:38,600 can you tell me the number of market basket uh communities that are 1002 01:18:34,640 --> 01:18:38,600 participating in GIC? 1003 01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:47,244 » Mark, could you tell us the number of market basket communities that are in 1004 01:18:43,040 --> 01:18:47,244 the GIC? I believe it's nine. [sighs] 1005 01:18:47,600 --> 01:18:54,719 » Yeah, I was I was going to guess eight >> out of 20. 1006 01:18:51,840 --> 01:19:00,880 » 20. Okay. And I know that at the last meeting that I attended that you did say 1007 01:18:56,560 --> 01:19:05,199 that you had talked with town. Um the reason I'm asking is because I've read a 1008 01:19:03,600 --> 01:19:10,080 lot of the letters that I found really respectful and very informative and I 1009 01:19:08,159 --> 01:19:14,640 know that a couple of people that are very respected in town. Um one being 1010 01:19:12,880 --> 01:19:20,080 Patty Dubbie. Her letter I found enlightening. And it says here, "In my 1011 01:19:16,880 --> 01:19:25,920 25 years as a Town of Westford employee and two years as a retiree, I have heard 1012 01:19:22,480 --> 01:19:30,239 very few positive comments about GIC from her counterparts." And I think 1013 01:19:27,920 --> 01:19:34,880 that's significant. She's well connected to other communities and to hear that I 1014 01:19:32,640 --> 01:19:39,360 don't know why. Well, I do know why you're you're looking into this, but it 1015 01:19:36,640 --> 01:19:43,120 concerns me that you're it appears to us that that's where 1016 01:19:41,520 --> 01:19:49,400 you're leaning and and that might not be true. Um, however, it concerns me that 1017 01:19:50,000 --> 01:19:56,320 that that's something that we're really considering out of going online and and 1018 01:19:53,760 --> 01:20:00,159 hearing and seeing negative things. As I mentioned at the last meeting, it 1019 01:19:58,080 --> 01:20:05,120 concerns me for people who use mental health that Westford is considering an 1020 01:20:03,600 --> 01:20:11,199 insurance provider that is very limited in that 1021 01:20:08,320 --> 01:20:18,400 way. It has pride itself over the years and worked hard. We have students, 1022 01:20:15,040 --> 01:20:23,920 PE, community members have children that we know is a problem in today's world, 1023 01:20:21,520 --> 01:20:28,320 yet they're going to be probably not going to get the access that they need. 1024 01:20:25,920 --> 01:20:33,080 I just feel like that's very um disheartening to me. Um 1025 01:20:33,520 --> 01:20:43,760 if we went to GIC, I've also heard that it's very difficult to to backtrack and 1026 01:20:40,239 --> 01:20:47,040 get out of GIC. And I'd like that to be seriously considered. I mean, every 1027 01:20:45,360 --> 01:20:50,560 other insurance company that we've gone with, we always have the assurance that 1028 01:20:48,880 --> 01:20:56,000 it's not going to be, it will be hard work for, you know, administrators to 1029 01:20:53,199 --> 01:20:59,760 make that change. However, that change can be made. I get the feeling that 1030 01:20:57,760 --> 01:21:06,159 that's going to be very hard, costly to the town. Um, I'd feel better entering 1031 01:21:02,880 --> 01:21:11,440 into GIC if I knew that that we can change our mind in a year after we've 1032 01:21:08,640 --> 01:21:17,520 experienced for ourselves. And I I don't believe that that's really the case. 1033 01:21:14,640 --> 01:21:20,159 » Just ask question. >> Just I'm gonna ask you to pause because 1034 01:21:18,880 --> 01:21:23,360 you've brought up a lot of great questions and before we lose track of 1035 01:21:22,239 --> 01:21:28,159 everything that you're saying, I want to take an opportunity to to try to respond 1036 01:21:25,440 --> 01:21:31,760 a little bit. Um, I think part of the confusion between when you're talking 1037 01:21:29,679 --> 01:21:36,719 about GIC and when we're talking about plan redesign changes and GIC benchmark 1038 01:21:34,560 --> 01:21:40,000 lookalike plans, that doesn't necessarily mean that the health 1039 01:21:37,920 --> 01:21:44,960 insurance trust is going to move us to the GIC. They actually don't have the 1040 01:21:41,920 --> 01:21:49,920 authority to do that. What we're talking about is one of the compensation 1041 01:21:48,159 --> 01:21:54,320 practices that Westford has always followed, which is to try to provide 1042 01:21:52,159 --> 01:21:57,520 compensation to our employees, which is at the midline of our benchmark 1043 01:21:56,080 --> 01:22:03,280 communities, is something that we're trying to implement for health insurance 1044 01:22:00,639 --> 01:22:11,360 as well or look towards implementing. And what that benchmark is in many cases 1045 01:22:07,440 --> 01:22:16,960 is a GIC plan. And so that's where that terminology comes from. Um now having 1046 01:22:15,199 --> 01:22:24,080 said that uh the select board has the authority to 1047 01:22:21,679 --> 01:22:30,239 dissolve the trust and move the town into the GIC. 1048 01:22:26,080 --> 01:22:35,679 Um this board has not set any hard or fast timelines or you know plans to do 1049 01:22:33,840 --> 01:22:40,880 that. I think there would need to be quite a bit more 1050 01:22:37,679 --> 01:22:46,159 educational opportunities for both the town leadership and stakeholders, 1051 01:22:43,440 --> 01:22:50,639 retirees and employees to get educated about what the GIC can offer. You 1052 01:22:48,719 --> 01:22:55,520 brought up a question about mental health. Um, you know, the GIC does have 1053 01:22:54,080 --> 01:23:00,480 plans that provide mental health coverage. So I think that one of the 1054 01:22:58,080 --> 01:23:06,320 things that we could probably do to help you just make people feel more informed 1055 01:23:03,600 --> 01:23:12,639 is to provide an educational session so that if the select board, you know, 1056 01:23:09,840 --> 01:23:16,639 decides in the near future or, you know, from now later in the future to move, 1057 01:23:15,360 --> 01:23:22,000 people will feel a little bit better informed. Um, as far as, you know, all 1058 01:23:20,239 --> 01:23:29,840 we've heard is negative things about the GIC. Um, I can tell you that I've not 1059 01:23:26,400 --> 01:23:34,239 heard that. Um, I have heard positive things about the GIC. I have heard from 1060 01:23:32,560 --> 01:23:38,880 Westford uh employees and retirees that they fear 1061 01:23:36,560 --> 01:23:43,840 that there's just always negative consequences. But you know, our town 1062 01:23:41,280 --> 01:23:49,760 manager did reach out to I believe five town managers for our mark our eight 1063 01:23:46,480 --> 01:23:55,920 town managers um of the the market basket communities and ask what their um 1064 01:23:52,800 --> 01:23:59,199 experience has been on the GIC. Uh that is a public document. I believe it's in 1065 01:23:58,000 --> 01:24:04,320 one of the health insurance trust packets. I saw it. 1066 01:24:00,239 --> 01:24:09,360 » Okay. Uh and and you know by and large th those town managers said that it was 1067 01:24:06,239 --> 01:24:13,520 a great move for their communities. Um >> but for what 1068 01:24:11,360 --> 01:24:16,880 » let me finish. Yeah. And so you know obviously they're they may be speaking 1069 01:24:14,960 --> 01:24:20,639 from a pure budget perspective but some did offer you know feedback that the 1070 01:24:19,040 --> 01:24:25,760 employees seem generally well satisfied with it. Um 1071 01:24:23,280 --> 01:24:30,000 so you know again tonight we're really talking about what the health insurance 1072 01:24:27,840 --> 01:24:35,120 trust is going to be doing in terms of next steps. Uh and you know the select 1073 01:24:32,880 --> 01:24:40,000 board will be continuing to discuss GIC as a potential option. But you know what 1074 01:24:37,520 --> 01:24:43,760 I see going forward as a first move if we continue to go down that path is to 1075 01:24:42,000 --> 01:24:48,080 have an educational session where we bring in somebody from the GIC to a 1076 01:24:46,320 --> 01:24:53,600 session like this where we can answer questions from retirees and employees. 1077 01:24:50,480 --> 01:24:59,040 So am I wrong in if you're looking at GIC options whatever that may be I'm not 1078 01:24:57,040 --> 01:25:02,800 well verssed in this at all >> are you also looking at the same time 1079 01:25:00,880 --> 01:25:06,639 what blue cross blue shield what we have today will be 1080 01:25:03,920 --> 01:25:10,000 » yes so when we talk about plan redesign changes and we talk about a 1081 01:25:08,960 --> 01:25:17,679 » so they're comparable >> a 15% benchmark plan that's taking the 1082 01:25:14,080 --> 01:25:23,920 benchmark GIC plan and basically halfing the deductibles halfing the co-pays A 1083 01:25:20,560 --> 01:25:27,520 full GIC benchmark plan would be taking what the GIC offers and you could see 1084 01:25:25,760 --> 01:25:32,320 how much that costs to some of the because some of the towns on our 1085 01:25:29,040 --> 01:25:37,679 comparison as you just heard basically our GIC uh enrolled uh so you can do a 1086 01:25:36,320 --> 01:25:42,000 rough comparison. Now you'll have to take into account how much the percent 1087 01:25:40,080 --> 01:25:46,400 that the town pays versus the employees pay. Right? So it's, you know, you're 1088 01:25:43,440 --> 01:25:51,600 doing the right comparison, but that data will be analyzed by the health 1089 01:25:49,280 --> 01:25:56,480 insurance trust and discussed and debated. Public input will be very 1090 01:25:53,920 --> 01:26:00,719 welcome during that process. And as you heard from Kristen, who is the chair of 1091 01:25:58,960 --> 01:26:04,000 the health insurance trust, that first step is going to be taking place in the 1092 01:26:02,320 --> 01:26:06,000 next week or so. >> Okay. 1093 01:26:04,719 --> 01:26:09,760 » There was one other question that you answered, which was why do people feel 1094 01:26:07,840 --> 01:26:13,760 why do communities feel like they can't get out of the GIC? Well, the GIC does 1095 01:26:11,760 --> 01:26:18,159 mandate a three-year enrollment. You can't leave, you know, within 3 years. 1096 01:26:16,239 --> 01:26:23,040 And generally speaking, what we have heard, the reason why many of these 1097 01:26:21,040 --> 01:26:26,639 communities can't leave is because financially it's to their advantage not 1098 01:26:25,120 --> 01:26:29,040 to. >> Okay. 1099 01:26:27,520 --> 01:26:34,120 » So, please, if you have any other questions. 1100 01:26:30,320 --> 01:26:34,120 » Yeah. Um, 1101 01:26:36,800 --> 01:26:44,480 so as a retiree, if I were to leave and go p if I was unhappy with the decision 1102 01:26:42,320 --> 01:26:52,320 that's made for the town and I go private because I'm Medicare age, um, 1103 01:26:49,920 --> 01:26:58,719 can I come back at some point or am I then like the dental, I can no longer 1104 01:26:54,880 --> 01:27:04,400 come back to the town retirey? Um, I actually don't know that answer. 1105 01:27:01,760 --> 01:27:06,800 So, if you could send me an email or the TMAA email, we will get back to you. 1106 01:27:06,400 --> 01:27:11,040 » Yeah, >> I think that would be helpful because 1107 01:27:09,440 --> 01:27:15,679 everything that people have said, this is going to be costly for those of us 1108 01:27:13,920 --> 01:27:21,199 that are older and that are using our insurance that we've never used before, 1109 01:27:18,320 --> 01:27:28,080 paid all these years, and many of us, myself included, have been so fortunate 1110 01:27:23,600 --> 01:27:32,239 not to be unhealthy. And now we're going to have the deductibles. We're going to 1111 01:27:29,679 --> 01:27:37,440 have it. It's just very um disheartening. Uh the only other thing I 1112 01:27:34,639 --> 01:27:44,719 wanted to say is another letter that was written. Um it said that this person's 1113 01:27:41,199 --> 01:27:50,239 concerned that GIC is a short time short-term cost savings um to help with 1114 01:27:47,760 --> 01:27:56,159 the FY28 budget along with presumptions of saving in the future. 1115 01:27:52,560 --> 01:28:02,320 Even Loctton has said repetitively that the that his estimate of cost savings 1116 01:27:58,960 --> 01:28:06,800 may not occur and may not continue before decision to enter you know we 1117 01:28:04,639 --> 01:28:12,480 need to consider this and and that again unless we're having a significant 1118 01:28:09,120 --> 01:28:17,040 savings significant I just am very disappointed that the town would 1119 01:28:14,239 --> 01:28:21,040 consider doing this to its employees and to its retirees and all these people who 1120 01:28:19,280 --> 01:28:27,199 have worked 30 years of their life maybe less maybe more. Um, they chose to serve 1121 01:28:24,719 --> 01:28:32,159 the town. They chose to do this. They chose to work for lesser income than 1122 01:28:30,000 --> 01:28:36,000 they could have, but they chose this because they were weighing out the 1123 01:28:34,000 --> 01:28:42,159 benefits of retirement. And now that's being compromised. And I think that's 1124 01:28:39,760 --> 01:28:45,266 something that's very serious that you should consider. [applause] 1125 01:28:52,000 --> 01:28:59,120 Uh Nina, thank you very much for your very well thought out and uh questions. 1126 01:28:56,320 --> 01:29:04,719 Really was helpful to have that. Um we have some more questions online. So 1127 01:29:00,800 --> 01:29:08,239 Mike, we do uh anonymous attendee asks, "I get the sense we are currently 1128 01:29:06,400 --> 01:29:11,920 avoiding what the increases might be. Having my personal health insurance 1129 01:29:09,679 --> 01:29:15,520 programs go up by 20% last year was a big shock. And as one gentleman pointed 1130 01:29:13,840 --> 01:29:19,600 out, we use this insurance more now because we need it more now. It feels 1131 01:29:17,440 --> 01:29:25,360 like we are being punished for doing so. Any chance that you can even off the 1132 01:29:22,880 --> 01:29:29,639 offset the cost to everyone instead of just slapping it on to the retirees? 1133 01:29:30,239 --> 01:29:39,120 » So, as I said in my presentation, we have not made any 1134 01:29:36,560 --> 01:29:43,840 suggested changes. We are reviewing what it may mean to make changes to active 1135 01:29:41,920 --> 01:29:48,960 employees and what it may mean to make changes to retirees. Once we have that 1136 01:29:46,880 --> 01:29:53,719 data, we will present that out, but we do not have that information at this 1137 01:29:50,400 --> 01:29:53,719 point in time. 1138 01:29:54,560 --> 01:29:59,840 » And another question from Jesse Byer. I think it would be good to understand how 1139 01:29:58,080 --> 01:30:04,719 much savings there is for the town if any switch is made. I'd hate to make a 1140 01:30:01,840 --> 01:30:09,679 change that say passes 500,000 of cost to employees and only saves the town 1141 01:30:06,880 --> 01:30:14,679 $150,000 or something like that. I feel this is a key question needing to be 1142 01:30:11,360 --> 01:30:14,679 answered yet. 1143 01:30:16,800 --> 01:30:23,120 Uh Jesse again thank you for the question and spot on. I mean certainly 1144 01:30:20,719 --> 01:30:28,560 we are going to do that analysis in the months to come. So appreciate it. Any 1145 01:30:25,920 --> 01:30:34,400 other questions Mike? Okay. Any other questions from members of the audience? 1146 01:30:32,159 --> 01:30:40,760 Yes, please come on down to the mic. Thank you. It's just so that you folks 1147 01:30:37,280 --> 01:30:40,760 can hear online. 1148 01:30:40,880 --> 01:30:47,360 » I think it's just a clarification question. Um I I know Kristen when you 1149 01:30:45,520 --> 01:30:53,199 did your presentation on the very it seems like on the overview or the very 1150 01:30:49,280 --> 01:30:57,760 first slide there was um mentioned that there's it just seems like there's 1151 01:30:55,040 --> 01:31:02,719 confusion with a statement maybe that says that we weren't going to the GIC 1152 01:31:00,080 --> 01:31:06,600 but now we're talking about the GIC. So some of us are a little confused. 1153 01:31:08,639 --> 01:31:18,800 So, one of the first slides outlined what the health insurance trust voted on 1154 01:31:14,400 --> 01:31:24,080 on July 1st. And one of those votes, and Sean can speak more directly as he w he 1155 01:31:21,199 --> 01:31:30,639 also uh voted on the trust was that uh the town would not pursue going to the 1156 01:31:26,400 --> 01:31:35,920 GIC for July 1st of 2027. Um, now we know we have some more time 1157 01:31:33,520 --> 01:31:41,520 to make potential changes with a potential March 1st uh, adjustment. Um, 1158 01:31:39,840 --> 01:31:46,400 however, I'll let the select board speak to uh, if they feel that the GIC is or 1159 01:31:44,400 --> 01:31:49,400 is not on the table. I don't have that information. 1160 01:31:50,239 --> 01:31:58,400 » Thank you for that question. As I mentioned previously, uh the select 1161 01:31:54,000 --> 01:32:03,679 board I think would feel it prudent to provide more opportunity for education 1162 01:32:01,040 --> 01:32:08,400 on the GIC. That's something that uh we have not had an opportunity to do. Um I 1163 01:32:06,400 --> 01:32:11,760 feel strongly that you know the more that we can educate people about 1164 01:32:09,920 --> 01:32:17,920 different topics, the better the resulting conversation will be. So, uh, 1165 01:32:15,760 --> 01:32:21,520 I I do think that the right move is to at least have a conversation, have that 1166 01:32:19,600 --> 01:32:25,840 educ or sorry, have that educational opportunity provided and then we'll have 1167 01:32:24,000 --> 01:32:31,360 conversations like we're having tonight to answer any additional questions and 1168 01:32:28,159 --> 01:32:34,760 go from there. >> Yes, please. 1169 01:32:36,159 --> 01:32:44,800 » Hi, Elizabeth. Um, there there are a couple of points I' I'd like to just 1170 01:32:40,239 --> 01:32:50,880 offer up uh as you find them useful. Um, GIC does make a lot of information 1171 01:32:48,400 --> 01:32:56,880 publicly available. It's a it's a program that, you know, almost 500,000 1172 01:32:54,320 --> 01:33:01,199 people use in the state. Um, some as the subscriber, some as families. Um, as 1173 01:32:59,600 --> 01:33:05,679 Chris said, it's very important to us that we structure information so it 1174 01:33:03,679 --> 01:33:10,880 feels interactive and guided and comprehensible. Um, but I mentioned that 1175 01:33:08,320 --> 01:33:15,920 you if if you are so inclined, there is information out there that is easy to 1176 01:33:12,880 --> 01:33:21,199 find. Um, so if you were to search on FY27 1177 01:33:17,440 --> 01:33:26,480 and GIC plan, you'd come up with a colorful I think it's about a dozen 1178 01:33:24,000 --> 01:33:30,400 pages and it and it might do a few things that um have come up in some of 1179 01:33:29,040 --> 01:33:33,679 the letters I've read. And I think of them as letters. The emails you've sent 1180 01:33:32,000 --> 01:33:38,480 us are really letters. They're they're personal. They're compelling. we are 1181 01:33:35,760 --> 01:33:43,920 reading them and and as I've read them, I've I've wanted to figure out how to 1182 01:33:41,679 --> 01:33:48,320 thread this needle of just just making sure that some of the the facts are out 1183 01:33:46,159 --> 01:33:53,679 there because with some facts, some of it is um a little less daunting. Um and 1184 01:33:51,920 --> 01:33:58,480 so, you know, Chris mentioned one of them that that the medical plans that 1185 01:33:55,760 --> 01:34:02,239 the GIC offers are medical plans. Um they aren't kind of plans, they're 1186 01:34:00,080 --> 01:34:06,719 plans. They have um and you can read them. They have mental health, uh, 1187 01:34:04,400 --> 01:34:10,480 substance abuse, addictive behaviors. You know, that's an example of one of 1188 01:34:08,320 --> 01:34:14,480 the things that, um, was in some of these letters that was questioned. And, 1189 01:34:12,880 --> 01:34:18,480 you know, you you you could see it if you wanted to. You know, please know, 1190 01:34:16,000 --> 01:34:23,440 I'm not asking you to do it. I'm just trying to to remove some of the sense 1191 01:34:21,199 --> 01:34:27,840 that I think I hear, which is that you feel, you know, blowing in the wind. Um, 1192 01:34:26,320 --> 01:34:31,679 so if you want to come out of the wind, if you want to read it, it's there. You 1193 01:34:30,000 --> 01:34:38,560 could see that some of the co-pays are really low. Um, you can see that some of 1194 01:34:34,560 --> 01:34:44,239 the um caps are uh potentially good for you. As I mentioned, some of these 1195 01:34:40,080 --> 01:34:48,639 letters were were very detailed in how much people pay out right now in 1196 01:34:46,239 --> 01:34:53,679 insurance. And although it is not true for everybody, there are scenarios where 1197 01:34:51,600 --> 01:34:59,520 there are um aspects of choice that that might be 1198 01:34:56,159 --> 01:35:06,719 beneficial. And I'm not advocating for the GIC, but I do really feel that 1199 01:35:02,480 --> 01:35:10,719 there's a lot of um understandable fears that are driving 1200 01:35:09,199 --> 01:35:16,159 views on it. And we're just trying to get to what's real about it. And in many 1201 01:35:13,679 --> 01:35:20,560 conversations about difficult choices, it's helpful to know what that outer 1202 01:35:18,320 --> 01:35:25,440 bumper is. And that's the outer bumper. And so adding shape to that is part of 1203 01:35:22,880 --> 01:35:30,560 just get getting aware of where the bumpers are. And also it is so important 1204 01:35:28,239 --> 01:35:34,560 that we're part of this middle communication. But it is uncomfortable. 1205 01:35:32,719 --> 01:35:40,480 I mean there's so many things where we we don't know all the answers. It is 1206 01:35:36,639 --> 01:35:45,920 part of being excuse me in the journey along the way while possibilities are 1207 01:35:42,960 --> 01:35:49,840 being considered when there's a a a reverse. um you know, we thought 1208 01:35:47,520 --> 01:35:53,760 something was going down one path and tried to share that and we had to 1209 01:35:51,199 --> 01:35:58,320 reverse and we learned more and now we're going forward again. So um you 1210 01:35:56,400 --> 01:36:02,480 know, I'm going to wrap this all up to say, you know, I I really appreciate all 1211 01:36:00,400 --> 01:36:07,600 your letters. I'm glad they're part of the public record. They are important. 1212 01:36:04,960 --> 01:36:12,400 Um if you are so inclined, I just want you to know there is some information 1213 01:36:09,520 --> 01:36:17,360 there, but we're very committed to also packaging more in a very structured way 1214 01:36:14,800 --> 01:36:22,400 as we learn it. very glad you're on the journey with us. Wish it weren't bumpy. 1215 01:36:20,080 --> 01:36:27,440 Um it is. We're acknowledging it. We're here together on that. You know, thank 1216 01:36:24,960 --> 01:36:34,239 you for sharing the input we've asked for and and I believe the conversations 1217 01:36:30,880 --> 01:36:37,560 are are in a robust way today but going to continue. 1218 01:36:40,960 --> 01:36:45,280 » All right. Thank you, Elizabeth. That was a really great way to put all of 1219 01:36:43,600 --> 01:36:49,360 this into a different context and understanding. So, I appreciate your 1220 01:36:46,560 --> 01:36:54,080 your comments. Um, we have some gentlemen at the mic. So, go ahead, sir. 1221 01:36:52,239 --> 01:36:57,679 » Uh, my question would be is with the plan design changes uh that are 1222 01:36:56,080 --> 01:37:02,960 proposed, has there been any analysis that's done is if we make this more 1223 01:36:59,679 --> 01:37:10,119 attractive and attract more users, um, what would our savings be at that point 1224 01:37:05,360 --> 01:37:10,119 if even if it raises by 5 to 10%. 1225 01:37:10,159 --> 01:37:14,880 » Thank you, Captain Holmes. That is certainly one of the things that the 1226 01:37:12,960 --> 01:37:19,119 health insurance trust is reviewing is if we do make plan design changes, would 1227 01:37:17,440 --> 01:37:23,440 that increase the number of people on the plan, what would we anticipate and 1228 01:37:21,360 --> 01:37:27,440 what would that uh anticipate related to additional costs that we would um see. 1229 01:37:25,600 --> 01:37:32,360 So that is part of the analysis that we are looking at with hub. 1230 01:37:28,719 --> 01:37:32,360 » Okay, thank you. 1231 01:37:33,440 --> 01:37:40,800 » Okay, you're next. >> Tim Hall, North Street. Um question is 1232 01:37:39,119 --> 01:37:45,199 if you guys are considering I know you're not considering the GIC this time 1233 01:37:42,639 --> 01:37:50,400 around but for FY28 if you are considering the GIC 1234 01:37:47,520 --> 01:37:56,080 um would you at least try to maybe offer a little bit more of 1235 01:37:53,280 --> 01:38:02,719 the percentage picked up like say a town like Lexington where they're on the GIC 1236 01:37:59,199 --> 01:38:09,199 they pick up 80%. we only pick up 65 and where we're going to lose things like 1237 01:38:04,800 --> 01:38:12,960 mental health coverage and other things. It would be nice to get something out of 1238 01:38:11,199 --> 01:38:16,639 it. Anyway, >> uh again, thank you for your comments. 1239 01:38:14,480 --> 01:38:19,520 Uh just to be clear, GIC does provide mental health coverage. So, just want to 1240 01:38:18,480 --> 01:38:25,360 make sure everybody is aware of that because that keeps coming up. Um, but 1241 01:38:23,199 --> 01:38:30,560 it's I think a little too early in the journey uh to to to give you a a hard 1242 01:38:28,239 --> 01:38:34,719 and fast yes on that because we would first need to have that educational step 1243 01:38:33,040 --> 01:38:41,040 get us a little bit more informed about the GIC and what it might look like for 1244 01:38:37,920 --> 01:38:47,199 Westford. uh we we do have some analysis done by Lockton that shows uh a you know 1245 01:38:45,119 --> 01:38:51,760 the amount of proposed savings if we were to go to the GIC as well as a 1246 01:38:49,679 --> 01:38:57,600 breakdown of how that savings might change if we had additional enrollment. 1247 01:38:54,800 --> 01:39:03,520 Um but one of the things that has not been discussed at this point is you know 1248 01:38:59,760 --> 01:39:09,280 potentially changing the uh contribution from the community towards or to to the 1249 01:39:06,400 --> 01:39:12,960 to the uh employees on that. So I think that's something in the future that we 1250 01:39:10,639 --> 01:39:16,480 could definitely analyze um as we get further along that path if we decide to 1251 01:39:14,719 --> 01:39:20,480 go that way. We may not. We may decide that we have the educational session and 1252 01:39:18,239 --> 01:39:25,280 say this is not right for Westford. But I I do see that that's an option that I 1253 01:39:23,040 --> 01:39:27,600 would not say is off the table. I just can't give you a firm answer on it at 1254 01:39:26,639 --> 01:39:28,960 this point. >> Understood. Thank you. 1255 01:39:28,560 --> 01:39:34,000 » You're welcome. >> Hi, Phyllis Snider, retirey. I just have 1256 01:39:31,040 --> 01:39:39,440 a question. Did you interview other insurance companies or just GIC 1257 01:39:37,679 --> 01:39:44,600 or did you mention that like TUS or something else? Did you look at them 1258 01:39:41,600 --> 01:39:44,600 also? 1259 01:39:46,080 --> 01:39:53,679 So I think um in terms of the market and Mark can speak to this if I misstep u 1260 01:39:50,480 --> 01:39:57,360 Mark Christelli um over the course of the past few years the town of 1261 01:39:55,520 --> 01:40:01,840 Westford's health insurance trust has talked to the GIC 1262 01:39:59,840 --> 01:40:05,199 which offers a multitude of plans through a multitude of providers. We 1263 01:40:03,520 --> 01:40:10,400 have talked to the Massachusetts interlocal insurance association Maya 1264 01:40:07,760 --> 01:40:14,320 about their plan offerings and we talk with hub about their their offerings as 1265 01:40:12,639 --> 01:40:18,159 well. So we continue to have these discussions every single year 1266 01:40:16,239 --> 01:40:23,119 » because years ago we did have TUS and we had um I forget the other one. 1267 01:40:21,360 --> 01:40:25,280 » There was Fallon as well >> and a third one. There was another one 1268 01:40:24,719 --> 01:40:31,600 too. >> I I maybe Harvard Pilgrim. I'm not sure. 1269 01:40:29,520 --> 01:40:35,600 » I thought there was another one. >> GIC has a number of plans. I don't have 1270 01:40:33,760 --> 01:40:40,880 the the copy in front of me, but there's a number of options to choose from based 1271 01:40:37,440 --> 01:40:43,600 upon active and retiree, um based upon the region that you're in and all of 1272 01:40:42,480 --> 01:40:47,159 those items, but I don't want to get into that this evening. 1273 01:40:49,119 --> 01:40:54,159 » All right, we have a question at the mic. 1274 01:40:50,719 --> 01:40:59,040 » Hi, I'm Jody Ross, 34 Lawson Road. So, I'm privileged to be the PEC rep for the 1275 01:40:56,719 --> 01:41:04,960 retirees and thank you Kristen for just appointing me to the IA for retirees. 1276 01:41:01,600 --> 01:41:11,840 What I hear from the retirees is they're afraid of having to change doctors or 1277 01:41:08,159 --> 01:41:17,679 change facilities or drug benefits. And that's what I hear from most of them. 1278 01:41:13,920 --> 01:41:23,920 And I think the unknown is what's really um creating a lot of angst. Uh the GIC, 1279 01:41:21,199 --> 01:41:27,119 we none of us really know whether we would have to change doctors, not if 1280 01:41:25,600 --> 01:41:32,560 they're in Florida, New Hampshire, whatever. That would be really important 1281 01:41:29,360 --> 01:41:38,800 to understand that. Um somebody asked I think it was Nina about um survey my 1282 01:41:36,480 --> 01:41:44,159 recollection didn't look but remember from meeting I believe it was 73% of our 1283 01:41:42,000 --> 01:41:49,760 employees said that they like their health insurance plan and I believe it 1284 01:41:46,320 --> 01:41:55,440 was 55% said they would pay more to keep it. I may have those numbers wrong but 1285 01:41:52,320 --> 01:42:01,600 the uh retirees were not surveyed. So, all I would say is somebody asked, I 1286 01:41:58,320 --> 01:42:05,119 think Diane, about Westford residents. Would it be okay if I asked how many 1287 01:42:03,679 --> 01:42:07,360 people in the room are Westford residents? 1288 01:42:06,560 --> 01:42:09,840 » Would that be okay? >> Sure. I'm happy to ask on your behalf. 1289 01:42:09,520 --> 01:42:12,480 Okay. >> Uh, just curious. You don't have to 1290 01:42:11,360 --> 01:42:15,600 answer this question, but if you're a Westford resident, please raise your 1291 01:42:13,760 --> 01:42:20,080 hand. >> Great. Thank you. So the reason why I 1292 01:42:18,000 --> 01:42:26,320 asked that is because when I was the town manager, we had about 350 1293 01:42:23,280 --> 01:42:31,199 town employees who were residents. And I know I always tried to hire residents 1294 01:42:28,480 --> 01:42:36,800 when I could, but you know, we are residents. We were hit by pay as you 1295 01:42:33,840 --> 01:42:41,679 throw. Some of us are on fixed incomes, most of us. So, I just think we got to 1296 01:42:39,360 --> 01:42:46,320 really understand what we're doing to I'm advocating for retirees, but we 1297 01:42:44,880 --> 01:42:52,560 really have to pay attention and give them more time than you make a decision 1298 01:42:49,760 --> 01:42:57,199 one week and and um we hear a week and then we're into it. We need more time to 1299 01:42:54,880 --> 01:43:02,671 be able to find out how this will impact us. So, thank you very much. 1300 01:43:00,651 --> 01:43:02,671 [applause] 1301 01:43:05,600 --> 01:43:11,199 » Great. Uh Jody, thank you very much for the questions and uh we do hope that 1302 01:43:09,360 --> 01:43:15,280 with the new timeline that we are discussing here this evening that we'll 1303 01:43:13,199 --> 01:43:20,719 provide that opportunity to make sure that everybody has the chance to ask 1304 01:43:17,440 --> 01:43:25,119 questions and get answers um as we work through the public process that uh we 1305 01:43:23,280 --> 01:43:29,440 have to follow in order to make a plan design change. So please try and stay 1306 01:43:27,280 --> 01:43:32,000 engaged on that. Um do we have a question? One more 1307 01:43:31,440 --> 01:43:36,239 question. Okay, >> we do have we have one more from Sandy 1308 01:43:34,159 --> 01:43:39,520 Collins. You you answered this before. I'll give you a chance to do it once 1309 01:43:37,520 --> 01:43:42,719 more. Can you assure us that if a plan change is made that retirees who live 1310 01:43:41,280 --> 01:43:47,719 out of state will still have full coverage? It's already difficult to get 1311 01:43:44,400 --> 01:43:47,719 a new provider. 1312 01:43:50,320 --> 01:43:58,000 » I'm assuming if so if we we're if it depends on what the change is, right? 1313 01:43:55,600 --> 01:44:03,040 So, if the health insurance trust decides to make plan design changes and 1314 01:44:00,639 --> 01:44:07,840 and they they stay with Blue Cross Blue Shield, uh I don't expect you to lose 1315 01:44:05,440 --> 01:44:11,520 your coverage. So, am I correct with that? Health insurance trust people. 1316 01:44:09,119 --> 01:44:16,040 Correct. Thank you. Yeah. >> Uh any other questions on 1317 01:44:16,159 --> 01:44:19,600 » question at the mic? >> No, I have some comments. 1318 01:44:19,199 --> 01:44:22,719 » Okay. >> Um I'm going to repeat, 1319 01:44:21,199 --> 01:44:26,800 » but Ellen, I have to say your question your comments sometimes come across as 1320 01:44:24,400 --> 01:44:28,400 questions. Just so you know, [laughter] >> I'll I'll see. 1321 01:44:27,920 --> 01:44:32,400 » Okay. >> Well, maybe I can mix them up and they 1322 01:44:30,159 --> 01:44:35,679 can be enthusiastic exclamation. >> I just want to make sure that we we get 1323 01:44:34,000 --> 01:44:37,760 you the answers you want. So, if it is a question, just frame it as a question. 1324 01:44:36,800 --> 01:44:42,239 We'll be happy to try and answer. >> I actually want to revisit some of the 1325 01:44:39,600 --> 01:44:46,560 data, some information that I sent to the select board and also some things 1326 01:44:44,800 --> 01:44:52,639 that I saw in both the locked in and the hub report. So, um 1327 01:44:50,400 --> 01:44:57,600 now I'm going to say this as a 54year town employee. So I am so proud 1328 01:44:55,600 --> 01:45:03,440 obviously I'm still working here to be an employee of Westford and I've been in 1329 01:45:00,800 --> 01:45:07,040 many a leadership group where every single department head in the room said 1330 01:45:05,600 --> 01:45:12,560 the reason they were working for Westford was because of public service. 1331 01:45:10,000 --> 01:45:18,080 It's a wonderful wonderful work ethic that we have in this town. I'm always 1332 01:45:14,960 --> 01:45:22,480 proud to say no our tax rate is lower. you know, go on the website and look. 1333 01:45:20,159 --> 01:45:28,320 And I love to tease people and tell them that we figure out the employee leave 1334 01:45:24,960 --> 01:45:33,920 acrual to the 110,000th every week. Heaven forbid we should spend 110,000th 1335 01:45:31,199 --> 01:45:40,960 of a penny that is not due one of our workers. Um, 1336 01:45:36,800 --> 01:45:48,000 when I read the reports that we saw from my reading, the only health insurance 1337 01:45:44,159 --> 01:45:54,480 that was actually solvent was Westford's Health Insurance Trust, not the GIC, 1338 01:45:51,840 --> 01:45:59,440 not the other three that were listed. We had the only one that was not in 1339 01:45:57,040 --> 01:46:05,040 deficit. When I look at the GIC and how it's 1340 01:46:01,840 --> 01:46:11,199 subsidized by Commonwealth taxpayers, it's not sustainable. 1341 01:46:07,280 --> 01:46:17,360 It we assume the liability of every member of every community that's in the 1342 01:46:13,440 --> 01:46:24,400 GIC. We have to um we have to join it before we know the 1343 01:46:20,960 --> 01:46:29,920 rate and we can't negotiate the rate that we're going to pay. When I look at 1344 01:46:26,960 --> 01:46:36,400 how hard over five decades Westford has worked, and I went through gas shortages 1345 01:46:32,880 --> 01:46:42,159 in the mid70s, the awful early 90s, we never made funds in the roaring 80s 1346 01:46:39,440 --> 01:46:46,800 because of the limits that we had for where we could invest town funds and 1347 01:46:44,560 --> 01:46:53,520 that was because that was prudent and that was legal. We went through the 1348 01:46:49,119 --> 01:46:59,440 awful 90s, 2004, 2008. We've had so many setbacks and I can't even believe after 1349 01:46:56,400 --> 01:47:07,040 so hard all the hard work we've done to keep Westford at a AAA bond rating and a 1350 01:47:04,159 --> 01:47:12,229 fiscally managed community that we would consider the GIC. 1351 01:47:10,209 --> 01:47:12,229 [applause] 1352 01:47:16,239 --> 01:47:22,239 » Uh do we have another question online or is that 1353 01:47:19,360 --> 01:47:27,840 » comment online? Uh to anyone wondering if their doctors are covered by GIC 1354 01:47:24,159 --> 01:47:32,560 plans, GIC has a provider search. Uh Health New England.org/gic 1355 01:47:31,040 --> 01:47:37,920 provider search. You can look it up on GIC's website. 1356 01:47:36,000 --> 01:47:43,199 » Great. Gentleman at the mic. >> Uh just have a question from Mark from 1357 01:47:40,159 --> 01:47:47,199 hub. Um what does the health insurance trust 1358 01:47:46,080 --> 01:47:52,800 look like it's going to do year-over-year for the next three years? 1359 01:47:51,679 --> 01:47:57,440 That's a big question. >> Yeah. So, so Mark, uh, let me take that 1360 01:47:55,199 --> 01:48:02,560 first and then if I I need to interact or you need to interject. So, um, the 1361 01:48:00,080 --> 01:48:07,760 health insurance trust looks at the rates every year. Um, health insurance 1362 01:48:05,679 --> 01:48:13,760 across the board and every municipality or any private sector in the US really 1363 01:48:10,960 --> 01:48:18,159 is going up year-over-year. So, we are tasked with ensuring that our trust has 1364 01:48:15,840 --> 01:48:24,400 enough funds to make sure that we can afford our health insurance, but we 1365 01:48:20,639 --> 01:48:28,880 generally don't look 3 to 5 years out because the trends are changing so 1366 01:48:26,719 --> 01:48:33,760 quickly and the medical is changing so quickly. Mark, I don't know if you have 1367 01:48:30,719 --> 01:48:36,960 anything else you wanted to add to that. >> Yeah, no, Chris, I think that's well 1368 01:48:35,360 --> 01:48:42,000 said and and that's why we have to meet with the trust very regularly. So we 1369 01:48:39,199 --> 01:48:46,560 meet um many times during the year to review the financials, review claim 1370 01:48:43,920 --> 01:48:53,360 trends, specifically what's going on with Westford, but also what's going on 1371 01:48:49,440 --> 01:48:59,920 in the overall healthcare economy. Um and uh we we take all that data just to 1372 01:48:56,400 --> 01:49:04,880 help us forecast in advance. Um the best I could do as far as forecasting the 1373 01:49:02,639 --> 01:49:09,520 next three years would be you know honestly just looking at general trend 1374 01:49:07,600 --> 01:49:13,280 but you know your group is although it's a large organization it it can 1375 01:49:12,040 --> 01:49:18,159 [clears throat] it's more of a roller coaster as far as peaks and valleys of 1376 01:49:15,520 --> 01:49:22,639 where the healthcare costs go and and a lot can change between now the next 1377 01:49:20,639 --> 01:49:28,320 three years. So, you know, as Chris mentioned, the health plans trust has 1378 01:49:24,639 --> 01:49:35,440 been very um healthy and as the previous um um questioner had mentioned as well. 1379 01:49:32,880 --> 01:49:40,320 And um you know, again, that's the trustees are very well educated and they 1380 01:49:38,719 --> 01:49:45,280 do their best to keep their finger on the pulse of what's going on in the 1381 01:49:42,480 --> 01:49:51,520 healthcare industry and their own plan to help make sure they don't ever run 1382 01:49:47,040 --> 01:49:55,199 the deficit in the future. So, there's no dollar amount look 1383 01:49:53,760 --> 01:50:00,080 looking forward. >> No, we definitely factor in health 1384 01:49:57,280 --> 01:50:04,000 insurance um expenses in our five-year projection that we do. Um and Dan 1385 01:50:02,480 --> 01:50:07,440 O'Donnell can speak to that a little bit, but there's no specific number that 1386 01:50:05,760 --> 01:50:11,600 we can give you. >> Okay, thank you. 1387 01:50:10,080 --> 01:50:15,040 » Uh great. Thank you for the question. How are we looking online for questions? 1388 01:50:13,119 --> 01:50:17,440 Are we clear there or we have one in the way? 1389 01:50:16,719 --> 01:50:22,159 We do that. >> Okay, 1390 01:50:20,239 --> 01:50:27,360 » we have a comment. Uh, this is only one of the GIC providers, the same gentleman 1391 01:50:23,840 --> 01:50:31,280 who posted the prior um the prior link. Uh, one of the GIC providers and that is 1392 01:50:29,280 --> 01:50:35,040 based solely in Western Mass. That is not accurate. The GIC actually has 1393 01:50:32,800 --> 01:50:39,159 several providers and individuals should go to www.mmass.govic. 1394 01:50:43,040 --> 01:50:49,520 » Thank you. And that's again what my colleague Elizabeth was mentioning in 1395 01:50:47,440 --> 01:50:53,360 terms of a great resource if you do want to learn a little bit more about the 1396 01:50:50,639 --> 01:50:56,639 GIC. A lot of good information there. Uh are we is that another one or are we 1397 01:50:54,719 --> 01:51:01,280 clear? All right. Any other questions from members of the audience? 1398 01:50:59,760 --> 01:51:06,360 » Yes, you have your hand raised. Do you can you come down? Yep. Great. Thank 1399 01:51:03,360 --> 01:51:06,360 you. 1400 01:51:07,600 --> 01:51:12,960 » What happens what happens to the people that live out 1401 01:51:11,520 --> 01:51:15,600 of state? I'm sorry just for the repeating closer 1402 01:51:14,880 --> 01:51:21,480 to the mic. >> What happens to the people that live out 1403 01:51:17,760 --> 01:51:21,480 of state with GIC? 1404 01:51:24,480 --> 01:51:31,440 » So, as Elizabeth stated, there's many different options on the GIC website 1405 01:51:29,040 --> 01:51:34,400 that um there's more narrow networks for people who live in Massachusetts. 1406 01:51:32,880 --> 01:51:39,119 There's wider networks for people who live out of state. The costs do change 1407 01:51:36,960 --> 01:51:43,840 based upon which plan you choose and which network you're in. Does Westford 1408 01:51:41,679 --> 01:51:47,040 still cover us? >> Would Westford still cover you if we 1409 01:51:45,520 --> 01:51:50,239 went to the GIC? >> Yes, there would be an employee 1410 01:51:48,560 --> 01:51:56,040 contribution and an employer contribution. Yes. 1411 01:51:53,040 --> 01:51:56,040 » Okay. 1412 01:51:56,239 --> 01:52:05,840 » Yeah. Once again, um refer to Elizabeth's uh comment. Um you when you 1413 01:52:02,719 --> 01:52:13,199 go and look at the FY27 plan offerings on mass.gov gov for GIC. It will give 1414 01:52:09,040 --> 01:52:17,440 you a PDF that shows how the GIC plans are made available to where you live in 1415 01:52:15,760 --> 01:52:19,760 the state of Massachusetts, outside of the state of Massachusetts, and when 1416 01:52:18,880 --> 01:52:23,599 you're within the state of Massachusetts, it even breaks it down by 1417 01:52:21,520 --> 01:52:27,440 county. And then it will show you which of the the different insurers are 1418 01:52:25,760 --> 01:52:32,080 available to you depending on where you live. So, that information is there um 1419 01:52:29,599 --> 01:52:36,880 if you are so interested in in looking into it. Uh any other questions at this 1420 01:52:35,199 --> 01:52:43,199 point from members of the audience? Are we how are we online? Clear online. 1421 01:52:40,800 --> 01:52:48,400 Okay. Uh do we have any closing remarks from members of the select board before 1422 01:52:44,960 --> 01:52:50,719 I ask for a motion to adjurnn? Yeah, >> sure. 1423 01:52:53,599 --> 01:53:00,560 So, it's come up a couple times about um the tax working group and I am the 1424 01:52:58,320 --> 01:53:06,159 select board who uh select board member who is a part of that group. Um so, it 1425 01:53:03,599 --> 01:53:10,239 is it is up to me to really know some of these dates. So, I just wanted to um let 1426 01:53:08,880 --> 01:53:14,639 you know that our report's going to come out in September. That's the the due 1427 01:53:12,719 --> 01:53:20,960 date there. And also that if you're looking for the most recent time that 1428 01:53:16,480 --> 01:53:25,280 analysis was done um 2018. So just trying to again if you're looking for 1429 01:53:23,360 --> 01:53:29,520 more information just to land some with some more specifics of your personal 1430 01:53:27,199 --> 01:53:33,760 questions um those are two things I'll point you to. Look for uh the working 1431 01:53:31,920 --> 01:53:38,880 group I'm a part of to report out in September. And uh if you want to know 1432 01:53:36,159 --> 01:53:45,000 more of what Tom was explaining um from past findings, you're you're going to 1433 01:53:41,280 --> 01:53:45,000 get data from 2018. 1434 01:53:48,400 --> 01:53:56,880 » Okay. Thank you, Elizabeth. Okay. Before I close out, I just want to again uh 1435 01:53:53,520 --> 01:54:02,159 talk about communication. So uh we have the ability to subscribe to alerts on 1436 01:54:00,320 --> 01:54:06,639 our website. So you can subscribe to when a 1437 01:54:04,560 --> 01:54:09,760 board or committee like the health insurance trust is posting their 1438 01:54:08,320 --> 01:54:17,040 meetings. That's one way of staying involved. Um we will do our best to 1439 01:54:13,679 --> 01:54:22,960 engage retirees as well. Our HR director does have email addresses that she can 1440 01:54:19,520 --> 01:54:27,679 send uh information to. If you are aware of a colleague or fellow retiree that 1441 01:54:25,599 --> 01:54:31,360 you know is not being made aware of what's going on, please let us know. I 1442 01:54:29,520 --> 01:54:35,760 think the best place for that would be the town manager's office. Uh again, you 1443 01:54:34,080 --> 01:54:41,760 can get them via phone or if they have the email address. Um we also are trying 1444 01:54:39,520 --> 01:54:45,599 to really push our social media channels. So, of course, we post on our 1445 01:54:43,840 --> 01:54:49,360 town website. We have news alerts just in general that go out through the 1446 01:54:46,960 --> 01:54:56,159 town's news uh website, but we also have a Facebook page. We have a newly uh spun 1447 01:54:53,360 --> 01:55:01,440 up Instagram. We are on X. So there's numerous ways that you guys can receive 1448 01:54:58,639 --> 01:55:04,960 the information um in a more passive sense rather than trying to search it 1449 01:55:02,880 --> 01:55:08,880 out. We will push stuff out to you. Uh so I I encourage everybody to try to 1450 01:55:06,960 --> 01:55:13,760 make use of those communication channels and please let your fellow, you know, 1451 01:55:11,599 --> 01:55:18,000 retirees and employees know about those options because the more we can inform 1452 01:55:15,920 --> 01:55:23,360 everybody about these discussions, the better off we all will be. And I really 1453 01:55:20,639 --> 01:55:26,960 truly believe that. So we welcome the feedback. Again, you can email the town 1454 01:55:25,440 --> 01:55:31,360 manager's office or any of the select board. We really appreciate the time 1455 01:55:28,560 --> 01:55:35,920 that folks took to send out the emails that they did over the last week or so. 1456 01:55:33,440 --> 01:55:39,440 Um, I did get uh one email that said something along the lines, I hope that 1457 01:55:37,199 --> 01:55:43,520 AI isn't reading these. Rest assured that we are reading them and we truly 1458 01:55:41,679 --> 01:55:47,840 appreciate your thoughts and questions. Uh, it really makes for a much richer 1459 01:55:45,280 --> 01:55:51,599 discussion. Um I do think out of some of those questions we have put together a 1460 01:55:49,760 --> 01:55:57,280 frequently asked questions document that is available at the health insurance 1461 01:55:53,760 --> 01:56:00,480 trust website is that what it is and and the select board packet for this. So 1462 01:55:58,800 --> 01:56:05,840 that is also something that we will continue to probably develop as this 1463 01:56:02,560 --> 01:56:11,119 conversation moves forward. Okay, one last call out for questions. Nothing 1464 01:56:08,159 --> 01:56:15,440 online. Um Mark from hub, thank you very much for joining us this evening. 1465 01:56:13,199 --> 01:56:20,159 Appreciate your feedback. Um, is there any questions or last words from the 1466 01:56:17,280 --> 01:56:24,719 town manager? >> I just really appreciate everybody's 1467 01:56:21,679 --> 01:56:28,639 time today um and the emails and comments. Uh, once again, it is likely 1468 01:56:27,040 --> 01:56:33,360 that the health insurance trust is going to meet next Thursday afternoon. So, um, 1469 01:56:31,679 --> 01:56:36,719 if you are interested, please mark that on your calendar now as just a 1470 01:56:34,560 --> 01:56:42,320 placeholder. Um, and again, feel free to email tma westwardmma.gov. That reaches 1471 01:56:40,000 --> 01:56:46,639 the town manager's office or select board westwardmma.gov. gov that reaches 1472 01:56:44,800 --> 01:56:51,679 the select board as well as the town manager's office. 1473 01:56:49,679 --> 01:56:58,320 » Okay, thank you very much Kristen and uh Mike just pointed out to me um 1474 01:56:55,280 --> 01:57:03,440 you know some of people have done um an really nice job of framing the concerns 1475 01:57:00,719 --> 01:57:07,599 that they have with this topic and that in some cases included you know putting 1476 01:57:05,520 --> 01:57:12,560 forth some financial and medical information in the emails. Um those are 1477 01:57:11,119 --> 01:57:16,320 those can be considered public documents. So, I just want to caution 1478 01:57:14,000 --> 01:57:21,760 folks that um if you are going to share information, just keep that that in 1479 01:57:18,159 --> 01:57:25,119 mind. Okay. Um Okay. With that said, uh I'm going to look for a motion to 1480 01:57:23,199 --> 01:57:29,040 adjourn this meeting. >> Do I have a second? Okay. All those in 1481 01:57:27,520 --> 01:57:31,920 favor, please say I. >> All right. This meeting is adjourned. 1482 01:57:30,320 --> 01:57:35,040 Thank you very much for your time this evening and for everybody who attended 1483 01:57:33,520 --> 01:57:38,840 online. We really appreciate you taking your time. Thank you.