LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — The news has been mixed within the past two weeks for the finances of SUNY Sullivan.

The college has acquired millions of dollars from the Sullivan County Legislature for its proposed athletic facility and for its 2022-23 budget. The other, less rosy news: a former employee of the college made it known that the college owed $6 million in back payments for its employees’ health care plans.

The rising cost of health care

Sharon Sand, a former SUNY Sullivan employee, brought the issue of the college’s health care to light at an August 11 meeting of the Sullivan County Legislature.

Sand brought to that meeting a copy of SUNY Sullivan’s June 30 bill from the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP). The bill indicated that the college owed $5,959,272.26 in health insurance premiums.

“Clearly the college has not been paying the health insurance premiums for some time,” said Sand. “If [SUNY Sullivan] were a private company, the group plan would have been canceled long ago for nonpayment of premiums. But the department of civil service is understandably reluctant to cancel the group plan of a public employer.”

SUNY Sullivan President Jay Quaintance addressed the college’s debt during a public hearing on its 2022-23 budget, held the following Thursday, August 18.

A few factors contributed to the debt, said Quaintance. NYSHIP raised the cost of its plans around 12 percent annually, increasing the amount the college had to pay for its employees’ health insurance. While expenses rose, revenues stayed flat or shrank. New York State paid community colleges a fixed amount per full time student enrolled there; that fixed amount was already insufficient, and declining enrollment at community colleges across the state made a bad situation worse.

The college will negotiate with its employees’ union over solutions to the health care problem. Employees currently contributed only around nine percent of the cost for a family plan, which Quaintance considered low.

Speaking separately with the River Reporter, Quaintance said the college hoped to increase employees’ share of the health care premiums, identify a less expensive health care provider than NYSHIP or preferably both.

At the same time, the college will work with NYSHIP to pay off portions of its bill and remain in good standing. Some of the money for this payment will come from the college’s COVID relief funding, pending approval from the state’s division of budget.

NYSHIP has been very generous with the county so far, said Quaintance: there was no immediate risk of NYSHIP canceling the health care plan for college employees. But the college still planned to contribute toward paying off its bill: “We don’t want to be in this situation either.”

A budget and a building

The remaining news from the college’s August 18 public hearing was more rosy.

The Sullivan Promise scholarship had a lot of traction, said Quaintance. The program offered a tuition-free scholarship to Sullivan County residents, and was introduced earlier this year. The college had hit around 62 percent of its goal enrollment for the fall, a higher-than-expected percentage. “We feel like we’re in a good place, but we’re three weeks out.”

The Sullivan County Legislature approved a budget of $17,734,474 following the public hearing. The county’s share of that budget will be $4,250,000, with an additional $50,000 set aside for tuition for county employees.

The legislature also approved $20 million in bonds to fund a proposed athletics center at SUNY Sullivan.

The center will feature a 25-meter-long, eight-lane pool and a 200 meter track oval, elevating SUNY Sullivan’s athletic offerings and providing a community space for the county. Legislators had originally approved spending $15 million on the center, unlocking an equal amount of funding from New York State.

The bond resolution authorized the county to raise up to $20 million for the project, $5 million above what had originally been authorized.

County treasurer Nancy Buck said that the county’s bond counsel had recommended starting at the figure the county thought it would end at, hence the higher figure. The county didn’t have to bond the money, she added. Agreeing to the resolution let New York State know that the county would fund its share of the project, but the county could use other sources of funding for the project.