Claremore council approves employee-benefits renewal and raises use tax to 4%

The Claremore City Council approved two separate measures: a renewal of the city’s employee insurance benefits administration and an ordinance raising the city’s use-tax rate to 4 percent to match a sales-tax change scheduled to take effect July 1.

City staff presented the insurance renewal, saying the city will remain self-insured but move administration and pharmacy benefit management to Edison Health as third-party administrator. A city presenter identified as Gortney said staff moved the medical plan to Edison and ‘‘there’s no adjustment in premiums, deductibles, or anything this year.’’ Staff also noted pharmacy costs are a primary driver of rising claims nationally and that the vendor change aimed to reduce fixed administrative costs and improve cost-management flexibility.

On the tax item, staff said voters approved a sales-tax change earlier and that the city’s use-tax rate must be brought into parity so that the use-tax does not exceed the stated sales-tax rate. The council approved the ordinance to increase the municipal use-tax percentage to 4 percent, effective July 1, to align with the new sales-tax rate.

Roll call for the insurance renewal was recorded in the transcript as: "Erwin? Yes. Bobby? Yes. Kata? Yes. Bowman? Yes. Michael? Yes. Long? Yes." The ordinance increase was approved by roll call recorded as: "Erwin? Yes. Bobby? Yes. Connor? Yes. Michael? Yes. Feldman? Yes." The meeting transcript shows motions were moved and seconded from the dais but does not identify specific mover or seconder for those items.

Staff said the insurance transition should cause little disruption to employees’ access to providers and that the city expects to present its audit and budget timeline at future meetings.