Auditor cautions commissioners of PERS changes

Highland County Commission President Shane Wilkin updated the board on recent discussions regarding the county employees' medical insurance contract during commissioners' Jan. 23 meeting.

Wilkin said the county needed to schedule its annual health fair within 60 days. The tentative dates are March 28-29.

"We need to stress the importance of county employees' participation," Wilkin said.

The health fair is one of the factors in the county's renewal rate for medical insurance, he said.

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In other business:

• Commissioners also met with Sandra White of Highland County Recycling & Litter Prevention. White updated commissioners on her grant application ($2,000 with a 10 percent local match) for the office.

White said the Recycling & Litter Prevention office will be working with the community during the annual Rocky Fork Lake cleanup in April.

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• Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley informed commissioners of new paperwork requirements for contract laborers used by the county.

Fawley said the county needs to ensure that any outside contractors employed by the county complete a form related to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

Non-employees will be required to complete form acknowledging that they understand they are not county employees, Fawley said.

The paperwork change is related to pension legislation signed by Gov. John Kasich in September 2012 after Sub. S.B. 343 was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate.

The new law became effective Jan. 7, 2013.

According to Fawley, county governments could be subjected to claims by some contract workers that they were actually public employees and thus eligible for PERS benefits.

"This was a case of passing a law before we knew what was in it," Fawley said. "It's another unfunded mandate from Columbus."

According to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (https://www.opers.org/), Senate Bill 343 sets a time limit for certain membership determination requests. The new pension law contains provisions which govern the eligibility for OPERS membership of individuals hired as independent contractors or other classifications – other than public employee – for which no retirement contributions were or will be remitted to OPERS.

Ohio Revised Code Section 145.037 permits individuals who provided personal services to a public employer prior to Jan. 7, 2013, but were classified as contractors or other classifications other than a public employee to request a determination from OPERS as to whether they should have been classified as public employees eligible for OPERS membership for these services.

These requests must be made within one year from the effective date of the pension legislation (Jan. 7, 2013). No requests for membership determinations for personal services provided prior to Jan. 7, 2013, will be accepted after Jan. 7, 2014, unless the individual is able to demonstrate through medical records to the OPERS Board of Trustees’ satisfaction that they were physically or mentally unable to submit the request before the deadline.
To request a membership determination from OPERS, go to https://www.opers.org/forms-archive/PEDREQ.pdf or call OPERS Employer Outreach at (888) 400-0965.

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• Commissioners also approved, by a 3-0 vote, a request by the auditor to have the Ohio Auditor of State conduct the county's GAAP-like conversion for $9,250.

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• Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution for Thomas King in support of the eight-county Southern Ohio War Memorial in just north of Lucasville on U.S Route 23 in Scioto County.

The resolution reads:

The Board of Highland County Commissioners are supportive of the proposed Southern Ohio War Memorial as established by the American Legion Post 363 committee of Lucasville, with the purpose being to honor all the fallen heroes from Southern Ohio and is to include the names of veterans from all branches of service from the eight Ohio counties of Adams, Fayette, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross and Scioto. Such a memorial is certainly deserved, and the Board is confident that the private donations will meet the expected expenses. Tom King shall serve as the chief fund coordinator. The Board wishes to express thanks and gratitude to all service members past, present and future, for the sacrifices that they make in serving this great nation.

Commissioners heard a September 2012 presentation from U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. (ret.) Evan "Gene" Elliot regarding the proposed Southern Ohio War Memorial. According to Elliot, the war memorial has been in the planning stages for more than a year and will include Highland, Adams, Clinton, Fayette, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross and Scioto counties in an eight-county region.

The memorial will be located on U.S. 23, approximately two miles north of Lucasville.

King is the chief fund coordinator for the project. He is gathering letters of support from county commissioners in the eight-county area and he will be seeking corporate sponsorships for the memorial.

King is working in cooperation with American Legion Post 363 in Lucasville. For more information, write to Thomas King at: American Legion Post 363, P.O. Box 1292, Lucasville, Ohio 45648.

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• Commissioners also met with Kevin Lewis of Ohio LECET (Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust).

According to LECET, Lewis is a part of the Ohio LECET fair contracting staff to "help union contractors obtain more work and fight for enforcement of prevailing wages."

LECET is a joint project of Ohio-based locals of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) and the signatory contractors of the Ohio Contractors Association (OCA).

Lewis told commissioners he was visiting the counties in his region and asking if they had any upcoming contracting jobs that would be put out for competitive bids.

Wilkin then said to Lewis: "I do have a question. We had a call from someone identifying (himself) as being from the state of Ohio. Someone with this group was requesting certified payroll information."

"It wouldn't be me," Lewis said.

"It's disheartening to have someone misrepresent themselves like that," Wilkin said.

"We do request certified payrolls, that's part of our job," Lewis said. "If someone with LECET did that, I apologize."

Lewis told commissioners that part of LECET's efforts includes looking at local wages "to be sure there's a level playing field."

"Does prevailing wage make jobs go faster or slower?" Wilkin asked.

"I think prevailing wage gets you better people, more qualified people, so jobs go faster," Lewis answered.

"I would disagree with that," Wilkin said. "What we see here is that this (prevailing wage) kicks a lot of our local contractors out of work. It doesn't change the quality of work."

"I understand what you're saying, but I disagree with you," Lewis said.

Lewis thanked commissioners for their time.

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Commissioner Shaffer updated the board on last week's County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) meeting.

Shaffer said he voted against the CCAO's endorsement of the expansion of Medicaid eligibility under the federal Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act.

The Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act allows states to expand Medicaid, and provides matching funds to do so. Gov. John Kasich is expected to announce his plans next month, Shaffer said.

The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and then signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold the law.

"I voted 'no,'" Shaffer said. "But either way, Medicaid expansion will cost the state."

Shaffer said the new federal poverty guidelines could add as many as 400,000 Ohioans to the Medicaid rolls. "A four-person family can make $92,200 a year and qualify for Medicaid," Shaffer said. "That would encompass 99 percent of Highland County families."

Shaffer said it was explained that states would see an initial savings as the federal government pays a higher percentage of the new costs. "The further out it goes, the more it costs the states," he said.

"The money from the federal government comes from us to begin with," Wilkin said.