In 2011, Mecklenburg County will begin offering same-sex domestic partner benefits to county employees. The Board of County Commissioners approved the measure last December, which allows same-sex couples who have been in long-term relationships and are not married to anyone else to receive insurance and other services through the county.
But this program, although socially progressive, isn’t free. Commissioner Bill James sent out an e-mail last Monday railing against the cost of the initiative. According to James, the benefits will cost Mecklenburg County an additional $100,000 per year. And although James is known for making offensive and inflammatory statements about the gay community (calling fellow Commissioner Vilma Leake’s son a “homo” during a Dec. 15 meeting) and other minority groups, for once, could his objections be coming from a pragmatic place rather than a bigoted one? In a time of budget deficits and disappearing services, can the county afford to offer these benefits — or is this more of the same from the commissioner who has been against the plan from the start?
In an e-mail to Creative Loafing, James outlined his reservations, stating: “… we are laying off 500 county employees and 200 or so library personnel (not to mention teachers).
“We could delay the benefits … I suggested that at the straw voting [June 4], but the [Democrats] didn’t want to consider it,” he said. “Also with ObamaCare; there is no telling what gap that will fill with federal money.”
Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts, however, said that domestic partner benefits don’t impact taxpayers at all.
“The county is not covering the premiums for employees; the employees are having to pay that. So, the cost of the premiums is not being paid by taxpayers, and even the claims that are paid out are paid out of county employees contributing to their premiums,” said Roberts, adding that James would like to make the domestic partnership an issue, but he can’t. “He wishes there was a cost so that he could make it a big campaign issue, but it’s just not an issue. To me, it is an issue of just being in the market place. All of our major employers in town are offering this, and there are people who think it’s fair and would like to be treated like every other employee.”
The county has yet to calculate how many employees will sign up for domestic partner benefits, said Mecklenburg’s human resources manager, Chris Peek, because open enrollment begins in November. But he has received two inquires about domestic partner benefits over the last six months. James, though, thinks that the numbers don’t quite add up.
“Commissioner Roberts’ position is that ‘taxpayers’ aren’t paying a dime because they are going to add a surcharge to everyone else’s premium. There are roughly 5,000 employees and 1,200 retirees. We (the county) pay the insurance for employees (except for a small amount). If everyone (including employees) have their rates raised then there would be some amount of tax dollars going to subsidize this,” James said.
But Peek explains the cost of the benefits like this: “The additional cost that is projected by our actuaries is factored into the employee portion of the premium. In the report to the board, we reported earlier this year the cost ranged from anywhere to $100,000 to $400,000. Our actuaries, based off the amount of interest that we’ve had from employees, [are] projecting that to be right around $100,000.”
It is possible, however, that the cost could be lower, he said, depending on the number of employees who take part in the benefit.
Roberts said research shows that when companies offer benefits for same-sex couples, about 1 percent of the employee population takes part in it. “A lot of people will never apply for it because they are still afraid to come out as who they are,” she said. “I think the impact will be very minimal, but the fact that we have it says something to our employees.”
Matt Comer, spokesman for the Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality and editor of the Carolina-centric gay and lesbian newspaper Q-Notes, said he doesn’t understand James’ concerns.
“This is not something that is going to be laid at the feet of taxpayers. There is no doubt in my mind that Bill James’ opposition to the domestic partner benefits is based solely on his anti-gay views,” said Comer. “He can grasp at straws for other excuses as to why he’s opposed to this, but everybody in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, or anyone who is familiar with him in the entire world, will know that his opposition is based in anti-gay views.”
According to Comer, the addition of domestic partner benefits for county employees will benefit the entire workforce. “All of the employees of Mecklenburg County should feel good. You know, they may be paying an additional $32 a year, but they are going to have a healthier and happier workforce. People’s partners, their wives and their husbands, are going to be healthier and happier, and that just makes for a more productive government,” he said.
But James isn’t going to let this issue go into effect quietly.
“It will be a campaign issue this fall — as the GOP has indicated that, if they are in charge, the policy will be reversed before it can go into effect,” he said. “The new board is sworn in the first Monday of December 2010. The new policy … goes into effect January 1, 2011.”
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2010.
