Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock City Council members, from left Dean Woodbeck, Mandy Lounibos, Whitney Warstler and City Manager Mary Babcock discuss the exemption option from PA 152. Single city employees have been charged high fees for their health insurance, and the exemption will allow the city the control over setting the standard. Babcock said she believes some employees are currently paying $200 per paycheck.

HANCOCK — Updates to the city’s general fee policy were approved by the Hancock City Council during its meeting on Wednesday evening. Changes include increased campground fees anywhere from $3 to $5. City Manager Mary Babcock said the campground increases still make it one of relatively lower priced locations in the area. “We don’t have full sites, and I feel it’s very adequate for what our purpose of a campground is,” she said. “We make enough to help maintain it, and we really want to keep it cost effective for families to go there.”

The council OK’d adding a charge for a zoning permit application in the amount of $50. Fees for the HoCo Arena were added into the policy, though the prices were not altered. This was done to keep more city rentals and services contained within few documents.

The council also adopted the annual exemption option per the 2011 Public Act 152 for Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act. Babcock explained Hancock has always worked under a hard cap which spreads out the cost evenly among all employees and is made up of how much the state allows for family, a single plus one and one person.

“So each of us pay the same amount for our insurance. If I’m one person, I pay the same as a family, but we’re only allowed credit for the single per state guidance under PA 152 so we then have to take our census and added about 11, and we divide by what’s left amongst all the employees. So our premium jumped from about $110 to $180 per week per pay period. So that was a dramatic jump, and yet our insurance didn’t go up. So it’s a very confusing dynamic,” Babcock said.

She continued to say that more city employees are single and pay for the same plans as families. She explained the cost per employee drove up to about $180 and believes some employees are paying $200 per paycheck. “So our goal right now, especially during contract negotiations, is to go to the exempt route, where then the city can set what we want. To pay rather than like this right now, we pay less than we did last year because our employees are paying more. And in the era of retention of employees, it is very difficult when we can’t guarantee them what they’re going to be paying for their contracts. So that is why we would like to remove ourselves and go exempt from this act,” Babcock said.

She said some employers do an 80-20 plan where the employees automatically pay 20 percent, but having single individuals pay the 20 percent while families pay the same amount is very aggressive. Mayor Kurt Rickard agreed, saying the main point of this is to balance out or steady how much employees are paying for health insurance.

“With the current system we’re under, it jumped up really for no reason,” he said. “This law is kind of artificially forcing us to charge our employees more.”

Babcock added that nothing could be done regarding the health insurance this year due to changes not being allowed in the middle of the union contracts. The change will occur then starting Jan. 1 2026 when union contracts are redone.

Elsewhere, the Business and Technology Park’s Phase II work has received approval for another payment from the city council. The Blue Line Site Solutions LLC payment’s fourth application for the strategic site readiness grant in the amount of $143,590.60. Babcock said the park project is nearing its completion.

In other action, the City Council approved a special meeting and public hearing for Sept 24 regarding a Community Development Block Grant from MI Neighborhood Funding for the Celtic Quarter House located at 222 Hancock Street. The house is planned to house three residential units. The council has until Sept. 30 to complete the grant.

Finally, the council approved bill pament of $3,018,616.86.