The Trenton Times published the following article on July 22, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
Trenton mayor touts $1 million savings from employee benefits change
By Jenna Pizzi | Times of Trenton
on July 22, 2014 at 12:35 PM, updated July 22, 2014 at 4:02 PMTRENTON – Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson said today that a resolution to change benefits programs for city employees will save taxpayers about $1 million a year.
Jackson said in a news release this morning that the conversion to the State Health Benefits Program for city employees’ prescription program would save a projected $750,000 for the city and the dental plan is expected to bring a savings of $268,000.
Although the resolution won the support of most council members at their meeting
Thursday night, Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson, a former union president, led the fight against the resolution, saying the administration should have procured letters of support from the city’s various labor unions before bringing such a large benefits change to council.Wayne Wolk, president of the Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, Local No. 6, said while he supports the change over to the state plan for prescriptions, he believes the transfer to the state dental plan will not save the city the $268,000 estimated by the Jackson administration and will end up costing city employees much more.