Mayor Gronbach Says There will be 'Zero Impact' on Children's Center Switching to Private Insurance

New Milford, CT — The following letter was written by Mayor David R. Gronbach in response to Ms. Trako regarding the Children's Center.

• New Milford Mom Asks Mayor Gronbach to Reconsider Insurance Cuts for Children's Center Workers

"Dear Ms. Trako,

Thank you for your letter about the daycares in Town and the issues involving the Children’s Center. Like you, my children also attended Tia’s Daycare and I spoke to the owner about the financial issues that required her to close. I am sure that if the subsidies we provide to the Children’s Center were offered to a daycare like Tia’s, which serves an important and vital population of our Town, it would not have closed.

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I agree that the sliding scale the Children’s Center offers to low income families can and will be preserved. However, we need to acknowledge approximately 50% of the families that use the Children’s Center are not low-income and are paying full price, from $225 to $275 per week. The entire program is subsidized by the State with approximately $325,000 per year and by the Town with $79,500. Total income last year was over $1,000,000. We should be proud that the Town has helped it become a healthy asset to the community, but as set forth below, our proposal will not put it out of business.

The Town has been allowing the Children’s Center to offer its employees the Town’s Health Insurance and the Town has been paying 30% of the premiums. This is where the red flags arise. When it was brought to my attention from Personnel, we could not find any authority for the arrangement. When Finance informed me the Town paid 30% of the premiums or approximately $68,000 per year, again I could find no authority; no Town Council resolution, no memo even, that would justify me, as a new Mayor, to continue. There has to be some authority to act, especially when tax payer money is involved. I am never satisfied with, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” Bad government cannot be “grandfathered in.”

The Children’s Center identified a Town Council resolution from May 14, 1990 as authority, but that raised more questions than answers. At the time, Town Attorney Sienkiewicz was asked for an opinion on the legality of extending Town health insurance to non-employees and he said “more research is needed.” The Council voted anyway, and passed an extension of the single plus one plans, not family plans. Also the Center was to pay 100% of the premium costs. Not only have we been extending family plans to the Center, but the Town has been paying 30% of the premium. I cannot continue something if I have no idea how or why we are doing it.

When I brought this arrangement to our attorney’s attention, they confirmed that our contract with CIGNA limited Town health insurance to Town “Employees”. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” is not authority for me to continue a policy that had significant financial and legal implications.

But our solution has never been to simply cut the Children’s Center loose. They are not Town employees so they cannot be on our health insurance plan, but we can help them get on a private plan that costs the same amount the Center is paying the Town. Last year the Center paid $15,211 per month to the Town for health insurance. The Gold Plan offered by Access Health would cost $15,237, a $26 increase. The Silver Plan costs $13,874.28 per month, a $1,337 per month decrease.

Nothing about what the Town is proposing would jeopardize the Children’s Center ability to remain open. There will be ZERO financial impact on the Center for switching to private insurance. They will still receive their State and local funding and income from full price tuition. While the Center pays $13,461 per month this year, since the Town’s $68,000 share of the premium has already been budgeted, that money can be used to supplement any additional costs the Center incurs as a result of the changeover.

I understand and support the work of not only the Children’s Center, but all daycares in Town. When I had three children in full-time daycare, my wife and I debated whether the costs were worth the income from both of us working.

With the closure of Tia’s and Kindercare, a discussion has to be had whether the Town’s subsidy of the Children Center’s full-price program unfairly competes with other daycares. If the Center only provided daycare to low-income families on a sliding scale, the issue would be clear. But when the children of bankers, lawyers, and other professionals are attending the Children’s Center at full price, should these subsidies be offered to daycares that service average families, who are struggling and whose daycares are closing?

We are on the same page with keeping the Children’s Center open and successful. The proposal offered by the Town achieves this purpose while protecting the Town’s legal and financial interests. As far as expanding services, the Town is already the largest daycare provider with its Latchkey program. We will be discussing the effects of these closures and whether the Town can absorb additional children because of them. Thank you for your comments. I welcome anybody to contact me with any questions about these decisions."

— Mayor David Gronbach

To send a letter to the editor, email wendy.mitchell@patch.com.