Retirees want Metro health care commitment

In the face of what may be a costly new accounting change, Metro employee and retiree representatives want the city to commit on paper to keep paying roughly 75 percent of retiree health insurance premiums.

On Wednesday, the five employee representatives sitting on the Metro Employee Benefit Board, the 10-member body that oversees health and other benefit programs for Metro workers, will ask the board to endorse a proposed Metro Council bill that would write into law a guaranteed annual amount of retiree health coverage.

The move comes after Metro Finance Director David Manning said earlier this month that an anticipated change in the way Metro budgets retiree health benefits could tack an additional $95 million annually to the Metro budget for the next 30 years.

Metro is looking to avoid the liability, and retirees are nervous this will result in reduced health payments. Currently, Metro pays about 75 percent of a retiree