Local Authorities and Unions in NJ Join Together in a Desperate Attempt to Prevent a Tax Increase.

Officials from local governments and the unions that represent their workers want the state to spend $350 million to make up for a rise in the cost of health benefits. They say this needs to be done within two weeks because the higher costs will start in January.

In exchange for what they say would be a one-time subsidy, the coalition is promising the State Health Benefits Plan $100 million in ongoing cost savings. They also say that if the SHBP’s plan design committee can’t find the promised savings, the state treasurer, Elizabeth Maher Muoio, could make changes on her own.

East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, who is also the president of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, said that the alliance between labor and management on this issue shows that they have the same goal and understand the need to keep costs from going up. Mironov said, “These huge and sudden increases in healthcare costs are completely unfair to our towns, counties, public workers, and all taxpayers.”

Fran Ehret, who is the New Jersey area director for the Communications Workers of America, said that taxpayers don’t seem to know that their property taxes will go up in 2023, maybe even more than usual, because health benefits are getting more expensive. Tax increases can’t go up by more than 2%, but these costs don’t count.

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Ehret said that people aren’t getting the information they need to figure out why healthcare costs are going up by more than 20%. She said that insurers and hospitals that make money from the current broken system should be the focus of efforts to cut costs.

“The solution can’t keep being to put the costs on the workers,” said Ehret. “That can’t always be the right answer.” Ehret said that coalition members will talk to lawmakers about their plan this week.

They want $350 million from the state’s general fund surplus to go to the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs. This money would be used to give grants to local employers based on how much their premiums went up.

After the grant money is used, the employee’s share of the cost of their health care would go up by the same amount as the employer’s.

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Kevin Lyons, who is in charge of benefits for the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, said that coalition members want to work with both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature because the premium increase will hurt the budgets of local officials from both parties. “We can’t do nothing,” Lyons said. “Otherwise, both taxpayers and people who work will have to pay for it.”

The groups also want the open enrollment period for health benefits in 2023 to be extended by a month. This would give workers more time to learn about their health plan options and give local employers more time to look for an alternative.