COURTLAND—The Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal that could result in members receiving new benefits amounting to as much as $9,000 a year.

Following a request by Berlin-Ivor District Supervisor Ronald West, the board discussed last week whether to allow members to join the county’s health insurance program.

&uot;We would be voting ourselves a pretty good raise,&uot; West admitted after hearing the dollar amounts for the county’s contribution to health care benefits.

West said he, in particular, is interested in the program, because he is nearing retirement and will need to be sure he has health insurance in place.

State law allows the elected members of a community’s governing body to join that community’s health plan under the same guidelines as regular full-time or part-time employees, as long as that body has approved a resolution allowing the benefit.

The county would have to contribute the same amount to supervisors’ insurance as it does for regular employees.

For a full-time employee, that contribution varies from about $4,600 a year for a single beneficiary to more than $9,000 a year for an employee and his family.

Coverage would cease when a participating supervisor vacates his seat through resignation or losing an election. At that point, the supervisor would qualify for 18 months of coverage through COBRA, with responsibility for 100 percent of the cost.

Supervisors made no decisions about the idea during last week’s meeting. No action is considered likely until the board’s budget discussions in the spring.