Council calls for review of City of Buffalo municipal health plans after officials clarify exempt-employee count

Council members asked the administration to conduct a comprehensive review of the City of Buffalo’s municipal health plans after the director of compensation and benefits clarified that the number of employees exempt from paying into the city plan is much smaller than some council members had believed.

Valerie Crespo, director of compensation and benefits, confirmed at the committee that there are exempt employees who do not pay toward health insurance but did not have the exact count on hand. Later in the discussion the Commissioner of Administration and Finance said the exempt cohort is roughly 125 out of approximately 3,000 city employees.

Why it matters: Council members said public perception had been that a much larger share of employees did not contribute to health insurance and that earlier lack of clarity complicated budget debate. Several members asked for clearer and timelier reporting to avoid repeated floor questions.

Council members also used the discussion to press broader fiscal priorities, with one member urging a focus on large overtime expenditures as a greater source of possible budget savings than the relatively small number of exempt health-plan participants.

The director of compensation and benefits and administration officials were asked to provide exact counts and additional detail; council members called for a more proactive flow of information during budget deliberations so that concerns can be addressed earlier in the process.

The committee received and filed the item for the record.