Oct 9, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 4 min read

Saying Fayette County can’t afford to absorb a 25 percent increase in employee health care insurance premiums, Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh suggested Tuesday that the county solicit proposals for a broker to shop that business around. Cavanagh contended that no harm can be done by looking for the “biggest bang for the buck,” especially since the projected price increase through current provider Blue Cross/Blue Shield is so large.

Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls seconded Cavanagh’s motion to have a Thursday vote on advertising for a request for proposals from interested health care brokers. Nehls said the cost predictions of Beverly Morgan, the county’s insurance consultant, have been downright frightening.

“Her predictions are very, very bleak. Almost to the point of being unacceptable,” said Nehls. “They started negotiations (with Blue Cross/Blue Shield) at a 57 percent increase. That’s over $1 million (in extra cost).”

Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites countered that Morgan is still working as the county’s insurance consultant under a 2-year contract that doesn’t expire until the end of December. Vicites said it makes sense to stick with Morgan until that time, as there’s no extra cost involved.

“She’s on board already and we don’t have to pay anything,” said Vicites. He added that he could favor doing a RFP down the road, but thinks it best to first use Morgan in her current capacity.

Cavanagh countered that seeking RFP’s amounts to nothing more than window shopping to see who else is out there and what they may be willing to offer. He added that Vicites has stated a desire to RFP things at prior meetings, so he should have no objection to doing so now in order to be consistent.

“Just because you RFP does not lock you into anything,” said Cavanagh.

Vicites abstained on the vote to place the item on Thursday’s meeting agenda, noting, “I don’t understand (the need).”

Also at Tuesday’s agenda meeting, the commissioners agreed to vote on soliciting bids for a state-mandated upgrade to the county’s accounting software. Cavanagh noted that the change is “something that’s going to have to be done” in order to comply with Government Accounting Standards Board practices.

County Controller Mark D. Roberts, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, spoke of his desire to replace current vendor Infocon, which he said has a 4-year contract with the county that includes a cancellation clause after two years.

“We can terminate the contract after two years if we give a 90-day notice,” said Roberts. “I’ve been dissatisfied with the current vendor almost since day one (in 2000).” Roberts said that all year 2000 electronic fiscal data for the county was “completely purged” from Infocon’s system on Jan. 1 of this year and thus has been lost.

Roberts volunteered to work with county manager Warren Hughes to develop specifications for the new accounting software “as soon as possible.” He said the new system would make county financial information easily available to any of the commissioners.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting:

??? Chief Assessor James A. Hercik said that 7,500 tax assessment appeal hearings have been held, with another 2,600 scheduled before the Oct. 31 deadline. “We will be finished on time,” said Hercik. He noted that of the appeals scheduled so far, 45 percent have resulted in an assessment reduction ranging from “minimal” to “more substantial.”

Only 1 percent of appellants have seen their assessment go up, said Hercik, while 30 percent have seen no change, 17 percent have been abandoned and 7 percent have either been withdrawn or are currently the subject of a “field check” to verify data.

Hercik added that this year’s deadline for enrollment in the Clean & Green Program is Oct. 15. That program offers a preferential tax assessment to the owners of at least 10 acres who are willing to accept restrictions on future development of their property.

Between 750 and 800 property owners have applied so far, said Hercik, which is “far below” the 3,000 enrollees that were anticipated. He said that approximately 7,000 properties in the county qualify for the program.

??The commissioners said they were willing to foot the bill for an audit if an exploratory examination by county manager Warren Hughes yields any evidence of impropriety on the part of recently resigned fiscal analyst/purchasing agent Bruce Beard. Commenting after the meeting, the commissioners said that while they have no evidence of wrongdoing by Beard in his county capacity, they would act swiftly if any suspicious activity were documented.

Beard, 40, of Uniontown was recently charged with two counts of forgery, two counts of theft by unlawful deception and one count of theft by unlawful taking arising from side jobs he held with New York Pizza and Pasta and the North Union Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Before his resignation, Beard took a brief leave of absence from his county job.