Southampton Village Elected Officials Who Opt Out of Health Insurance Benefits Will Now Receive a Stipend

Earlier this month, the Southampton Village Board voted unanimously to make changes to their benefits and compensation packages, a move they said is meant to save village taxpayers money, while also ensuring that elected officials are fairly compensated for the time they put in serving in what is, on paper, a part-time position, but in practice requires a bigger investment of time.

Previously, former elected village officials with at least five years of service received so-called “benefits for life” — though the health insurance did not kick in until the age of 55 — and the former officials did not have to chip in anything themselves toward the premiums.

Under the new package, current Village Board members will now be required to pay into the cost of their coverage, up to 5 percent of their salary while in office, the same standard that applies to all village department heads.

They also must now serve for a minimum of eight years, rather than the previous policy minimum of five years, to receive benefits after leaving office, and benefits don’t kick in until they are age 62, rather than 55. They must now contribute as much as 30 percent toward their post-service health care premiums, depending on length of service.

But one provision that was included in the resolution on the benefits and compensation package that passed at the meeting but did not come up in discussion was the inclusion of another new feature: Elected officials who opt out of the health insurance while actively serving the village now will be entitled to an annual stipend in accordance with the department head benefit package.

For those elected officials who have health insurance benefits from another employer, the stipend represents an additional compensation beyond the raise that the trustees and mayor recently approved for themselves.

Currently, the annual health insurance cost for a single person is $15,700, while family coverage is $37,070. The stipend for opting out of coverage is $2,500 for individual coverage and $3,500 for family coverage.

However, Mayor Bill Manger pointed out that the stipend is minimal in comparison to the cost of paying for health insurance benefits, and could be a cost-saving measure for the village if it incentivizes trustees to opt out of the health insurance benefits.

After completing eight years of service to the village, elected officials are still entitled to dental and optical benefits at no cost, after reaching the age of 62.

Earlier this week, Manger defended the policy changes.

“What we’ve done is much more restrictive than what was in place for the last few decades,” he said. “We’ve really cut back on the benefits to village officials. This is the first time that the Village Board has been able to cut back on health benefits in decades.

“I feel like we’ve done something really positive for the taxpayers,” he added.