What is AzMT
The Arizona Metropolitan Trust (AzMT) is an employee benefits consortium that is open to cities, towns, counties, fire districts, municipal corporations and any other political subdivisions of these types of entities located within Maricopa, Pima or Pinal counties in the State of Arizona. Please note that membership of fire districts, municipal corporations and other political subdivisions shall not exceed 25% of the total membership. Joint Powers of Authority (JPAs) will not be considered.
Formed effective July 01, 2012, the Trust currently has eight (8) members: City of Apache Junction, City of El Mirage, Town of Fountain Hills, City of Litchfield Park, Town of Paradise Valley, Sun City Fire District, Town of Wickenburg and Town of Youngtown. Each participating entity appoints one (1) Trustee and one (1) Alternate Trustee to represent their entity with regards to Trust administration. Trustees meet on a quarterly basis to collectively administer medical, prescription drug, dental and vision benefits for their employee populations.
Over the years, providing affordable health insurance has become a strenuous journey with many hurdles. The combination of strict budget constraints and rising healthcare costs has forced public entities to find innovative ways to maintain control of benefit costs while simultaneously providing employees competitive benefits. AzMT provides member entities with a way to maintain a greater degree of control over their employee benefits programs through the advantage of their collectively larger numbers. Benefits of AzMT membership include:
- Enhanced financial security resulting from improved spread of risk over the larger group;
- Enhanced bargaining power when purchasing benefits-related products and services;
- Lower overhead for plan operations; and
- The ability to customize program offerings to meet specific needs and desires among the members.
If your public entity is interested in finding out more information about AzMT, or the benefits of a structure similar to this one, contact Jaime Schulenberg, AzMT Administrator, at (928) 391-2297.
