Loading...
03-22-2011 - Special Police Pension Board of Trustees Minutes - Special Meeting March 22, 2011 Page 1 of 4 CITY OF EDGEWATER POLICE OFFICERS' PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, March 22, 2011 CALL TO ORDER/ ROLL CALL/DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM The Edgewater Police Officers' Pension Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 in the City Hall Conference Room at the City of Edgewater, Florida. Members Present: Ferd Heeb Gary Conroy Lawrence Leaf Dan Blazi Members Absent: Vincent McCauley Plan Attorney: H. Lee Dehner Plan Administrator: Sheila Hutcheson City Staff: Donna Looney, Personnel Director Tracey Barlow, City Manager Chairman Blazi called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. There was a quorum with four members present. Discussion: City's audit of pension plan Chairman Blazi opened the meeting regarding the City's recent audit of the pension plan, submitted to the Board at its March 14, 2011 quarterly meeting, by asking for members' input and asking for a civil discussion of the issues. Member Conroy opened the discussion, asking who initiated the audit and its cost. City Manager Tracey Barlow said the audit was a City initiative, but he did not recall the exact cost. Member Heeb stated that such audits are routine and common, and noted that credit cards create a certain degree of liability and need for review. Member Conroy stated that the auditor must not have reviewed all relevant documents of the Board/City or some of the items would not be in the auditor's report. The Board then asked if the minutes of its meetings reflect the Trustees'/Plan's expenditures; the Administrator said all expenses are included on each quarterly agenda for ratification by the Board. Member Conroy said the audit report reflects a lack of due diligence with respect to the employee Trustees' time card completion. Member Heeb said the audit report does not indicate any problem with the Pension Trust except with regard to the use of credit cards. City Manager Barlow stated that this audit is part of his effort to review every aspect of public expenditures, including an audit of internal purchasing cards, building permits /collection of fees, etc., in order to determine any material weaknesses. He had received the report just before the March 14 quarterly Pension Boards' meetings and shared it with all the Pension Boards at their meetings, and had advised that each Board could respond to the comments in the report. Mr. Barlow stated the audit provides an opportunity to make any changes needed to ensure transparency. He said there was no intention to impugn any Board member when he asked Member Conroy if he was under the impression that he was subject to disciplinary or criminal action as a result of the audit and he apologized if his comments suggested that. Chairman Blazi reminded all attendees of the need to have a discussion, not an argument, and to remain civil. The Chairman then addressed the use /recording of time by employee Trustees, stating that both he and Conroy had done nothing wrong in their time card completion. He agreed with Member Conroy that the report was one -sided and gave the impression of impropriety. Chairman Blazi asked the City to produce the time cards in question. He stated that the reason no time was recorded on the time cards in question for a Sunday (September 26, 2010), while attending a Police Pension Board of Trustees Minutes - Special Meeting March 22, 2011 Page 2 of 4 conference, was simply because Sunday wasn't a work day He continued by advising that the Administrator had been directed to obtain independent verification from FPPTA of members' attendance at FPPTA events. The Chairman also said that, in the future, all members will provide documentation of attendance (such as notice of certification) to the Administrator, who will maintain these records. Member Leaf pointed out that there is no documentation provided after an event that does not include testing. The Chairman then asked the City Manager for his input; Mr. Barlow stated that he will be looking at these internal issues City -wide. At this point, Member Heeb asked the Board to go through each item in the report, starting with the auditor's comment regarding the frequency and number of conferences attended The Chairman asked Attorney Dehner to address the minimum training requirements and was advised that each trustee must attend training at least one time in every two -year term. The Board had approved trustees' attendance at one training event each year. The increased frequency of attendance in the past year or so was because of the pursuit of public trustee certification by Members Blazi, Leaf, and Conroy. It was pointed out that FPPTA now requires attendance at one training event (providing ten units) each year in order to maintain certification. The Attorney said that the draft Rules Manual (not yet adopted) says that trustees will attend training once each year and more frequently if necessary to remain up -to -date, and new trustees are encouraged to attend a training event within the first six months of their terms. The Administrator said that the Board could take action to specify the frequency of training for each trustee, since the Rules Manual has not yet been adopted. Member Heeb continued by noting that some of the report refers only to internal City issues, such as the time off from work by employee Trustees. However, the other issue noted was the frequency of events attended, but Mr. Heeb said the Board had authorized the training attendance. Member Conroy said he sees his role as a trustee to be separate from his status as an employee. He then discussed the rental car issue noted in the report, explaining that there was a delay in the charge appearing on the American Express statement. The charge was on the bill months later after he had resolved an issue as to the amount of the charge. Member Conroy stated that these explanations could have been provided to the auditor if he had only asked about his questions prior to issuing the report. Member Heeb said that auditors just report their examination of the records reviewed and explanations come later. Member Conroy said it was the City Manager's policy that resulted in not using City cars for travel. The Administrator asked if Members Leaf and Conroy had information on the NAPO Conference they had attended so she could request confirmation of their attendance. Next, Chairman Blazi discussed the change in City policy regarding the usage of time, noting that attendance at training was previously considered work time and. at some point, changed to the requirement to use leave time for the absence from work. The explanation for Member Conroy's charge of sick leave while at a conference was because he was, in fact, on sick leave following surgery at the time of the conference. His condition was such that it did prevent him from performing regular or light duty as a Police Officer, but his physical limitations did not prevent his ability to attend the already scheduled conference, which was why he charged sick leave. The City Manager said he doesn't think there is any doubt of members' attendance. Member Heeb said that is the City Manager's perspective, while the report details the auditor's reporting of the documents he reviewed. Chairman Blazi said that the reason for arriving on Sunday is common for conferences beginning early Monday morning, rather than having to travel at, perhaps, 3:00 a.m. on Monday morning. Member Heeb reiterated that the auditor's focus is to examine the records /documents and report his findings to the City. Chairman Blazi said the focus of today's meeting is to identify procedures going forward. The City Manager advised that a General Employees' Pension Board Trustee had processed attendance at the FPPTA School through the City's internal procedures for travel. Chairman Blazi stated that the Police Department has, for ease of time tracking, recorded regular hours for training/conferences; he and Member Conroy followed that directive. He also said that with regard to requests for conferences /training, the request is most accurately to the Pension Board not the Police Department, and asked if the Department Head would then have the authority to disapprove the pension - related training if the request is via the City's internal procedures. He also pointed out that if such training requests are through the City's procedures, leave time should not be charged. Personnel Police Pension Board of Trustees Minutes - Special Meeting March 22, 2011 Page 3 of 4 Director Donna Looney said that payroll /time sheets are legal documents and auditors report on entries on the time sheets and other records. Ms. Looney said she recommends that all employees note on time sheets their attendance at conferences, even if it is not on paid time. Member Heeb said the policy for time card reporting for training attendance should be uniform and consistent throughout the City without variances by individual departments, in response to the Chairman's comments that different Department Heads make different decisions as to this matter. The Chairman asked the Attorney what the most common practice of agencies is with respect to the work time charged while at a conference. Attorney Dehner said that this varies among the agencies, but the most common practice is to consider such attendance time worked for employee Trustees. Member Heeb said his view is that such time should be considered work time, since it is a statutory requirement that two of the Trustees must be employee members. Chairman Blazi reiterated that this audit emphasized the need for the Board to determine its actions going forward. The next item of discussion related to the American Express charges and the City travel policy. Chairman Blazi said that the per diem rate charged for the conferences was from the General Services Administration's (GSA) allowable amounts for the geographic area of the conferences. He asked what the City uses and the City Manager said there is no standard at this time, but this does need to be addressed by the City. The City currently uses several per diem bases, including GSA, Florida Statutes, Chapter 112, CONUS, and the IRS. Member Heeb said that each member who attends a conference should complete a travel expense report to document the record, including notations of charges to American Express, and then reimbursements can be processed for any expenses not paid. Mr. Barlow said the City must first establish which per diem is to be used, and then have the expense report submitted as Member Heeb outlined. The Chairman then asked the Board to finalize its input, as City Manager Barlow said he would need to leave the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Member Heeb said he does not agree with the Board having its own credit card and asked how many boards have credit cards; the Administrator and Attorney said that not many pension boards use credit cards. The Chairman said that a determination needs to be made as to the use of per diem or credit cards, because blending both creates problems. He said that the credit card provides transparency in that everything is itemized and ultimately saves money. However, Member Heeb said that the ratification of credit card expenses at the quarterly meetings does not provide the detail that an expense report would. The Administrator pointed out that per diem does not cover all expenses; e.g., lodging costs, mileage, tolls, parking, etc. Member Conroy said that the Personnel Department used to prepare travel reports, but it became a time burden and it was Finance Director John McKinney who suggested the use of a credit card. Member Leaf stated for the record that there have been no discrepancies or false charges submitted. The City Manager said that report was only from the auditor's review of the records. Mr. Barlow asked the Administrator to send the complete American Express statements to him; also, the complete statements will be included with each quarterly agenda. At this point, the City Manager left the meeting (10:30 a.m.). The Chairman summarized his position, noting that the auditor's report did not present both sides and his first take was that the report, on the face of it, suggested some sort of impropriety. Chairman Blazi said he should have invited the auditor to attend. The Administrator was asked to complete the minutes for approval at a special meeting in the next week so that the minutes could be presented with the Board's response to the audit. Member Heeb suggested that the Board wait to make changes at such time as the Board adopts a Rules Manual, which will include procedures in this regard. He cautioned the Board not to over - react. Member Leaf asked who had initiated the audit and was told it was the City's project. Member Conroy asked for Attorney Dehner's input and Mr. Dehner said that the report does have an accusatory tone. Member Conroy said it was his opinion that the auditor should have asked questions regarding his concerns before preparing the report. Member Heeb reiterated that the point of the report was for the auditors to do what they were asked to do; i.e., to review documents, not to interview employees, etc. In other words, the auditor followed the directive of the City, which was to submit a report based on the review of documents. Police Pension Board of Trustees Minutes - Special Meeting March 22, 2011 Page 4 of 4 By consensus, the Board authorized Attorney Dehner to prepare a response to the audit report for submittal to the City Manager based on today's meeting minutes, once approved. The Board scheduled a special meeting on March 28, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. to approve the minutes of today's meeting. The Administrator said she would attend by telephone. STAFF REPORTS, DISCUSSION, and ACTION/TRUSTEES' REPORTS, DISCUSSION and ACTION; REQUESTS FROM THE PUBLIC/EMPLOYEES PRESENT The Administrator requested the Board's approval of remuneration for future special meetings in the amount of $400 (this cost would be shared with the General Employees' Board for joint meetings, subject to the same contract amendment with that Board). She said there would be no charge for the brief special meeting on March 28, which she would attend by telephone. Member Conroy made a motion to approve payment of $400 to the Administrator for special meetings and to authorize the Attorney to prepare the contract amendment for execution by the Chairman and Secretary; Member Leaf seconded the motion, which passed unanimously on a roll call vote. Attorney Dehner reported on pension legislation, advising that SB 1128 was voted out of committee on March 17, with several significant provisions. The bill still allows only base pay plus three hundred (300) hours of overtime for benefit calculation purposes; with regard to usage of the State monies, it is permitted for the City to use the monies one time only (to defray its cost); if the actuarial accrued liability is below 80 %, half of the State monies would have to be used for that purpose until it reaches 80 %; and the compensation base is changed to the last five years of employment. Member Conroy requested that, if the bill is enacted, the Attorney provide documentation of the changes to provide to participants before July 1 so they can make informed decisions as to their future. This would be prepared at the end in May. Member Conroy noted his disappointment that the annual member benefit statements distributed by Foster & Foster at the March 14, 2011 meeting were in error. The Administrator reported that corrected statements have been issued by Foster & Foster and are being mailed to the City to distribute. He also asked that Foster & Foster's company name be on future statements. Member Conroy asked Member Heeb if he had attended any training, and Member Heeb said he had attended the mini - conference sponsored by Christiansen & Dehner. Member Conroy also said he does want the training file maintained by the Administrator. Chairman Blazi noted that present policy of the Board allows attendance by Trustees as training becomes available. ADJOURNMENT There was no further business and the Chairman adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m. Respectfully Submitted: Approved: s,illâ–  . Sheila Hutcheson E . i a____ Plan Administrator .: - rD