Oak Creek City Employees Facing Big Changes in Compensation

Writing about public employee compensation can be a funny thing.

I know that no matter what is written in the following paragraphs, there will be, basically, two types of comments: many from people who think that those in the public sector are overpaid, and some who will defend public employees. There might even be a Walker reference or two.

But I will press on and present some information about what is happening with compensation for city of Oak Creek workers, as has been described in preliminary budget deliberations, a memo to city employees and interviews with aldermen and other city officials.

These changes go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

-For the first time, city employees will pay deductibles for health care benefits. $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000 deductibles for single, two-person and family plans.

-Co-pays were increased to shift about $700,000-$750,000 worth of health care costs to employees.

-Employees generally will have less paid time off under a new paid-time-off system.

-Upon attaining the age of 65, health insurance will no longer be provided by the city except through COBRA continuation coverage as required by law.

-A state budget bill (Act 10) required most public employees to pay 50 percent of their pensions, which means about 5.8 percent of earnings. The city will attempt to negotiate with the police and fire unions so that those rules apply to them as well.

-The city is not laying off any workers.

And here are some bonus observations from yours truly after talking with some city employees: there's certainly a lot of unhappiness about the changes; the paid-time-off issue seems to be a big one; there's a fear that more is coming; and people want the public to know that they, too, are making sacrifices.

The changes to employee compensation are also a big reason why the city was able to balance its budget and present a zero-percent increase in the property tax levy, as explained .

So, there's that.