Could Sulphur provide city-paid group health and life insurance to a retired mayor?

Plain-English summary

Sulphur’s mayor asked whether the city council could amend its ordinance so a mayor with at least ten consecutive years in office and municipal retirement membership could continue city group health and life insurance as a retiree. The city already paid active mayor and employee premiums in full. The AG concluded that the council could legally adopt the proposed provision. It relied on statutory treatment of retired officials and earlier opinions allowing local governments to pay insurance premiums for officials and retirees. The opinion also noted that an insurance contract had to exist before elected-official premiums were authorized and that past payments could not be reimbursed.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the city council adopt the proposed retired-mayor coverage?
The AG said yes on the facts presented.

Did the opinion assume the mayor was already an employee under the plan?
No. It said existing coverage might already suffice if the mayor was included as an employee, and based its further analysis on the opposite premise.

Could the city reimburse past insurance premiums?
The opinion cited an earlier AG opinion saying past premiums could not be reimbursed as a donation of public funds.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion considered Sulphur’s home-rule charter, R.S. 42:853 on retired officials, and prior AG opinions on local payment of health and life premiums.

Citations and references

• The legal authorities cited appear in the original text below.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0094

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Mare Street, Suite 600
cwl~ mV,S~ON
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAl

~OR g I ZOOZ
OPINION NUMBER 02-0094

54 Insurance
71 Municipalities

Honorable Charles H. Reed, Group insurance may cover elected officials and retirees
Mayor
with 100% of the premiums paid by the mumc~pal~ty.

City of Sulphur
P. O. Box 1309
Sulphur, LA 70664-1309

Dear Mayor Reed:

You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General’s Office regarding the legality of the proposed amendment to Ordinance Number 302, establishing insurance retirement benefits for the Mayor of the City of Sulphur, Louisiana.

Specifically you have asked this office’s opinion regarding the proposed Ordinance Section F which states:

A Mayor who has served for at least ten (10) consecutive years in office and is a member of the Louisiana Municipal Retirement system shall be considered "vested". Thereby, he/she shall be entitled to participate in the City Group Health and Life Insurance Program on the same basis and coverage as any retired employee, as provided in Section 7.02, paragraph D, of "The Human Resources Policy and Procedure Manual."

Paragraph D of the Human Resources Manual provides:

Employees who retire under a qualified retirement plan and are enrolled in group insurance benefits with the City may continue such coverage at the same level, with the City paying the same premium percentage. If the retiring employee wishes to continue dependent coverage, arrangements must be made for the retired employee to pay the entire premium for the dependent coverage.

The City’s Home Rule charter states in Section 3-04, paragraph B that the city council "shall specify by ordinance the employee’s benefits to be provided the

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OPINION NUMBER 02-0094
Hon. Charles H. Reed, Mayor
City of Sulphur
Page: - 2-

mayor." You have indicated that the Mayor is currently a member of the Group Program and that the city currently pays 100% of the premiums for the City Group Health and Life Insurance Program for the Mayor and all active employees. If the Mayor is currently included in the definition of "employee," your present system covers the proposed benefits without further action by the City Council. This further discussion is based on the premise that the Mayor is not defined as an "employee" under your system.

R.S. 42:821 through 852 provides for employee benefits including group health and life insurance policies. R.S. 42:853 states:

For the purposes of R.S. 42:821 through 852, the terms "employees", "officials", "department heads" and "heads of departments" shall include any former employee, official, department head or head of department who is enjoying the benefits of retirement.

Louisiana Attorney General Opinion No. 92-547 states:

This office has recognized under R.S. 33:5151(B)that the political subdivision may pay 100% of the insurance premium for its employees and elected officials. Attorney General Opinion Nos.
91-209, 90-106, 88-480.

Also, this office has concluded that the term "employee" includes a retiree or a former employee now retired, and it would be legal for a public agency to pay medical and life insurance premiums for retired public employees. Attorney General Opinion No. 90-131.

This office has concluded while the political subdivision may pay 100% of the insurance premium of elected officials, the insurance contract must be in existence before the payments are authorized, and past payments may not be reimbursed as this would be a prohibited donation of public funds. Attorney General Opinion No. 91-219.

In conclusion, based on the facts presented to this office, it is our opinion that the City Council of the City of Sulphur may legally adopt proposed Ordinance Section F establishing employee group health and life insurance for a retired mayor.

We hope this information sufficiently answers your questions. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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OPINION NUMBER 02-0094
Hon, Charles H. Reed, Mayor
City of Sulphur
Page: - 3-

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

SUE MCNABB
Assistant Attorney General

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