EDWARDSBURG — The Village of Edwardsburg will soon be spending more money on its employees.

At Monday’s Edwardsburg Village Council meeting, council members reported receiving an estimate on village employee healthcare that showed a 10.82 percent increase in cost. This prompted the council to vote to approve to continue covering the increased cost in healthcare coverage for 2018.

Currently, the village pays $6,642 a month in employee healthcare coverage. Under the new estimate, the village will pay $7,360 a month in 2018.

“If you look around, everyone’s healthcare is going up at least that much,” said council member Jacque Tighe.

Not every member of the council was in favor of taking on the increased cost of healthcare coverage for village employees.

“Why does the village have to absorb all this?” asked council member James Meltinos. “I hate to be the bad guy, but why can’t we pass some of this onto the employee?”

Currently, village employees pay 7 percent of their own health insurance monthly. Should employees pay a higher percentage to cover the cost increase, it would help keep the village budget in check, Meltinos said, adding that he has had to cover an increase in insurance at jobs he has in the past and is currently paying 90 percent of health insurance coverage for his family.

“If it happens to everyone why are we shielding these employees,” Meltinos said. “I don’t think 25 percent is out of line for them to pay. I know that’s a huge pay cut. People are going to say, ‘oh my gosh, that’s $60 to $80 a week,’ but the village is going to have to absorb another $700 dollars a month, another $7,000 a year. I just think we can’t make this decision. It’s not fair, but we’ve all been in that situation.”

Other council members disagreed with Meltinos, saying that they would lose employees should they increase the burden of healthcare coverage on the employee and that replacing the village’s licensed employees would be difficult.

“Everyone is replaceable,” Meltinos countered. “You’re going to struggle for a little while, but there are still people out there. … We are supposed to be looking out for the village’s interests, and I think it should consider the possibility that the employees should cover some of the cost of inflation.”

Ultimately, despite Meltinos’ reservations, the council unanimously, including Meltinos, voted to support covering the cost of the increased healthcare coverage for January, February and March, leaving the possibility to change the coverage following further discussion after March.

In other business:

• The village office will be closed Monday, Dec. 25, Tuesday, Dec 26, Monday, Jan. 1 and Tuesday, Jan. 2.

• The Edwardsburg Chamber of Commerce reported that its annual cookie walk was successful, with many vendors running out of cookies before the event finished. The money raised from the event will go toward the chamber’s general fund and the Edwardsburg Food Pantry.

“Everyone seemed to enjoy it,” said chamber representative Roseann Marchetti.