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City staff introduces flexible benefits option to Whiteville employees
Summary
City staff presented a “benefit flex” concept that would let individual employees decline the city’s standard health-care package in exchange for an equivalent cash or alternative benefit, citing an estimated $120,000 employer premium increase and asking council for feedback before modeling options.
A city staff presenter told the Whiteville City Council that staff are exploring a "benefit flex" program that would allow employees to opt out of the standard health-care package and receive the equivalent value as another benefit such as a retirement contribution, student-loan repayment, or a lifestyle account. The presenter said the state-mandated employer premium increase — a 2.5% charge on the salary base — will cost the city roughly $120,000 and that the flex option could preserve or lower the city’s costs while offering more individually useful benefits to employees.
The presenter said staff had checked the North Carolina state health plan language and understood the plan currently allows partial participation by an employer group. He cautioned that the program’s viability hinges on plan rules and potential future legislative changes: "If they alter [the state plan] and say you gotta have full participation starting the following year, then I guess we all have to go backwards," the presenter said. Council members asked clarifying questions about open enrollment, whether departing employees could later return to the state plan, and how tax treatment of cash equivalents would be netted. Cassidy Collier noted staff had reached out to Representative Jones about amenity funding in a separate discussion but affirmed interest in pursuing numbers and options and returning with an action item if council wants to proceed.
