The County Legislature approved a Republican-sponsored bill last night that changes the compensation for members of the Monroe County Water Authority.

The bill, introduced by Majority Leader Bill Smith, eliminates health insurance and other fringe benefits for future Monroe County Water Authority board members. "We think that the cash compensation is sufficient," Smith said late last week.

The bill does not affect current or past board members, some of whom are getting health insurance paid for by the Water Authority.

Water Authority board members receive $7,000 a year, and the chairperson receives $10,500 a year, according to the 2007 county budget. Currently, board members and their families can also receive lifetime health coverage and other benefits.

During the meeting, Republicans and Democrats accused each other of political grandstanding.

Minority Leader Carla Palumbo said Smith's proposal deserved some appreciation, and she did vote for it, but, she said: "It is a miniscule drop in the bucket of the reforms that need to happen at the Authority."

Democrats introduced four amendments to Smith's proposal, none of which passed. They wanted:

Democrat Paul Haney questioned whether the board members are receiving the benefits legally, since the legislature apparently never authorized the payment of health-insurance premiums or pension contributions.

The only legislator voting against Smith's proposal was Democrat Harry Bronson. Smith's proposal doesn't go far enough, he said. "It's disturbing that we, as a legislative body, are unwilling to do the right thing," Bronson said. Democrat Ted O'Brien abstained from all votes on the Authority; his law firm represents it.

Late last week, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo warned state authorities to stop paying for health insurance and other fringe benefits for their board members. Charters of the 100 or so authorities he contacted appeared to prohibit such payments, according to a Cuomo spokesperson.

Smith says Cuomo's decision doesn't apply to the Water Authority. And, he said in an interview, the timing of his local bill wasn't due to Cuomo's action. Instead, he said, recent media reports on the compensation packages were the catalyst. He's unsure when board members started receiving health insurance as compensation, he said; he couldn't find any county government records indicating when the practice began.

"This must be decades old," he said.

The County Legislature appoints the Water Authority board members and sets their compensation. Money for the board members' pay is included in the county budget.

To strip the current board members of their fringe benefits, which also include pension payments, could be costly, Smith said, since it would involve legal proceedings. And Water Authority customers would have to absorb the legal costs, he said.

A February 25 story in the Democrat and Chronicle said the Monroe County Water Authority has the highest rate of compensation among regional authorities. Coming in at second place was the board for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., which pays its board members $5,000 a year and offers health insurance.