BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

CANTON — The Village of Canton is facing a significant increase in the cost of employee health insurance, with the village's healthcare costs set to rise by 14.5%.

Mayor Michael Dalton notified the Village Board of the increase during the board's recent meeting, describing it as a significant expense for the municipality.

“I passed out or I sent you the announcement about our healthcare insurance notification,” Dalton said before discussing the increase.

Although an exact breakdown of health insurance costs was not provided, the cost of employee benefits rose to $1,210,641 from $1,085,052 in the 2026-2027 budget. 

The increase in healthcare was 10.4% over the previous budget and now the village is expecting an even higher hike.

The situation isn’t unique to the village of Canton.  Private business, municipalities  and school boards are also seeing record high health insurance costs. The United States continues to have the most expensive health care system in the world despite worse outcomes. Life expectancy is lower and child mortality rates are higher than other wealthy nations.

In Canton, the impact on the budget is a concern.

“So that's some big numbers for health insurance,” Dalton said. “We're eating most of that.”

The village is absorbing most of the increased insurance cost rather than passing the entire increase along to employees. 

The latest increase comes as the village is also making changes to the compensation and benefits package for employees who are not covered by a union contract.

Later in the meeting, the board approved an updated agreement covering non-contract employees. The agreement had been reviewed with employees, and included several changes intended to bring portions of the agreement more closely in line with the village's union contracts and practices with other employers.

Among the changes are adjustments to longevity increases, clarification of vacation provisions and a provision allowing unused vacation time to be transferred to sick leave.

Compensatory time approved by the department head in advance shall be accrued at the exact rate as overtime, 1.5 hours of paid time off for every 1 hour of overtime worked. Language was added giving non-contract employees some flexibility in their work schedules to account for occasional meetings outside normal working hours.

The board also increased the clothing allowance to $500 and made the allowance applicable to all non-contract employees. The discussion noted that office employees can have expenses such as computer-related or video display terminal  glasses.

The agreement also contains an updated insurance buyout provision. During the discussion, officials said the change was intended to be more reflective of what the village does with other employers.