Rosemead City Council Members Have Most Expensive Health Care Benefits

Good job of serious investigative reporting by the Los Angeles Times has produced a chart showing health care costs imposed on taxpayers by elected officials. Their findings show that Rosemead city council members have the most generous health benefits of any of our neighboring cities:

Alhambra: $17,587
El Monte: $11,935
Montebello: $5,231
Monterey Park: $10,593
Rosemead: $18,594
San Gabriel: $12,543
South El Monte: $10,937
Temple City: $354

The numbers are available here, and are given as "Average health care contribution," meaning this is the average cost per member. Multiply by five to get the full health cost to each city above.

Not included in the numbers above are the actual salaries for the council members ($15,224/year for each Rosemead council member), plus other benefits to council members, including a $150/month cell phone allowance, stipends for serving on other government bodies, retirement benefits, "enhanced" retirement benefits for those who were elected before 2010 and served 20 or more years on the council (does this cover any "watchdogs" we are aware of?), enhanced retiree health benefits for those elected before 2007 and having served 20 years (again, does this cover any "watchdogs" we are aware of?), deferred compensation worth $500/month, plus a home telephone, Internet and computer compensation plan.

Bottom line is that being a member of the city council (especially one who serves 20 years or more) is a VERY lucrative career choice--much more lucrative than most of us ever realized.

So, the next time someone tells you about their long history of protecting the city's treasury, just remember which long-serving members of your city council it was who voted themselves these generous taxpayer-funded benefits.