Commission Chairman Jim Reno, who still backed the idea as a way to manage health care costs, said he didn’t want an out-of-state arbitrator flying in and telling the county what to do. “I fear turning it over to an arbitrator,” he said.

Commissioner John Ostlund praised the blood draw program and wants employees to sign up for it. But, he continued, it was “the wrong time to have this discussion.”

While Commissioner Bill Kennedy agreed to rescind the surcharge, he said employees he talked to thought it was “kind of punitive.”

Kennedy also said to not proceed with arbitration put the issue “into a real dark area.”

By not arbitrating, Kennedy said, the county doesn’t know “the parameters” and the issue will not be settled. “Next year, we’ll be talking about the same thing,” he said.

The county, he said, has not negotiated health benefits because it has a permissive levy in which it can tax property owners to pay for insurance increases.

Kennedy also said there is discussion about whether the permissive levy should be capped. There was no increase in the levy this year.