Act 10 allowed local governments a lot more flexibility to manage their affairs in order to control costs while providing services. Many of us have been saying for years that almost none of our local governments have been using the full power of Act 10. Some have been better than others, but I can’t think of one that is doing everything it can.

Here is one example. The West Bend School District has actually been better than most school districts at using Act 10. They have done things like add a wellness clinic to provide convenient care to their employees and lower costs and implemented merit pay for employees. But I notice this in the West Bend Daily News:

A family plan now has an added cost of $20 a month. A single plan is at $5.

“Our families have never contributed to the dental plan,” Elliehausen said.

Really? Nothing? When something is free, people lack the incentive to use it judiciously. And it is virtually universal in the private sector that employees contribute to their dental plan. This is a small step to normalize compensation plans that Act 10 allows the School Board to unilaterally make, but the West Bend School District has failed to implement it until now.