Bids needed for insurance

Dear Editor,

The School District of Hudson recently held its annual meeting where an 8 percent property tax increase was approved. The district has been successful in lowering the mill rate in previous years, but now that we are looking at an increase, the district needs to look into every opportunity to control expenses and use our money wisely.

It is always a good and professional purchasing practice to obtain competitive quotes, particularly for big-ticket items like health insurance. This topic was brought up at the annual meeting and the response was that the current union contract language specifies that health insurance will be provided by WEAC.

I asked at the annual meeting whether the board intends to negotiate for the right to obtain competitive quotes for health insurance in the future. They chose not to answer my question.

The district needs to commit to obtaining competitive quotes, starting with the next contract. This will insure that employees are provided with high-quality coverage while at the same time giving the taxpayers the best value for their tax dollars.

This newspaper noted last week that the city of Hudson saved the taxpayers $400,000 by switching to a private health insurance provider. The school district, with approximately 800 employees, should realize even greater savings that will help eliminate the need for future tax increases.

One last comment on a different topic, the School Board enthusiastically uses “point of order” to stifle dissent and avoid answering tough questions. I listened to the instructions given by the attorney hired by the district and reviewed Roberts rules and I do not believe that I was out of order in my questioning of the School Board at the annual meeting.

Tags: hudson school district, health insurance, opinion, letters