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09-20-2000 '-' ...",; City of Edgewater Personnel Advisory Committee September 20,2000 Minutes A meeting ofthe City of Edge water Personnel Advisory Committee was called to order at 2:04 p.m. on September 20, 2000 in the City Hall Conference Room. ROLL CALL: Deborah Sigler, Chairman Tracey Barlow Jack DeRosier Patricia Hayes Calvin Ayers Thomas Smith Present Present Not present Present Present Present JoAnn Richard, Recording Secretary was also present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A Motion was made by Ms. Hayes to approve the minutes from the meeting held on June 21, 2000 with a second by Chief Barlow. Motion CARRIED 4-0. COMMUNICA TIONSIREPORTS: Ms. Sigler reported that the Union Contracts had been approved and ratified, no benefits changed. Ms. Sigler also reported that City Manager, Ken Hooper had reminded the Department Heads to meet more frequently with their employees to keep them informed of what is going on in the City and their departments. She stated that the Personnel Department was always open to answer any questions an employee may have. She as far as possibility of having more social gatherings with the employees to build a family atmosphere, her department would always be willing help with organizing a social event of some kind. -1- ~. ..., NEW BUSINESS Debby explained that currently retirees are being allowed to cash in their vacation leave and sick leave before their last day so that the value of those benefits will be included in their pension benefit. She wants the committee's input concerning this so that language can be put in the personnel policies and procedures, if appropriate. It was the consensus of the committee that this is a good idea and agreed that it should be put in writing. The procedure for reimbursing employees for educa~ional costs was reviewed by the members. There was discussion as to whether a new policy should be developed so that grades are taken into consideration as for as how much is reimbursed.' It was agreed that for the time being the current policy should be adhered to before we look into making changes to it. Debby distributed the new broadbanding classification groupings and reviewed the operating procedures as adopted by the City Council. The City Manager would like this committee's input on the development of an incentive pay program and an assignment pay program. There was quite a bit of discussion about assignment pay, which will be somewhat like the ~out of classification" pay and discussion as to what classes and/or certifications might be considered for incentive pay. Tracey Barlow distributed an example incentive program which would apply to his department. The members agreed to come up with ideas for their areas. It was explained that they can bring suggestions into the Personnel Department any time and not wait for the next meeting. MISCELLANEOUS None ADJOURNMENT Tracey Barlow moved to adjourn, being seconded by Pat Drosten. Meeting adjourned 4:00p.m. Minutes submitted by: Personnel Depart~ent .... ....., Ms. Hayes suggested having a Springtime event possibly at the new YMCA facility. Ms. Sigler suggested to the committee that before the next meeting in March they get some ideas for some type of event for the employees in Mayor June of next year. OPEN DISCUSSION: Chief Barlow mentioned that Bill Bennett inquired about the YMCA and the agreement with them regarding the City's Wellness Program. Ms. Sigler explained that Mr. Hooper wanted someone to look into the cost of this program so it could be budgeted for. She said that Port Orange has the agreement with their YMCA to allow the employees who want to be members have their fees payroll deducted in the amount of $1.00 per week. There really wouldn't be anything the City would budget for. Chief Barlow thought that the agreement they are seeking would be similar to that of Port Oranges' in that the City owns the building, and they lease it. Part of that Lease Agreement is to give the City employees free membership, and they just pay the taxes. Ms. Sigler said she left it in Jack Corder's hands to find out what kind of agreement the YMCA has with Port Orange, and she will get back with him on this. She suggested not to make it mandatory that all employees had to be members of the YMCA. Mr. Ayers asked about the $3.69 that was going into the employee's International City Manager's Association (lCMA) per week. He wanted to know if the employees could touch that money or move it into other accounts. Ms. Sigler explained that the City opened a Deferred Comp Plan Account for every employee, if they didn't already have accounts. That money is pre-taxed, it has IRS restrictions on it and cannot be moved. She explained that for two years the City had 3% to give to the employees as raises and instead they gave the raises at 2% and put 1 % into the leMA accounts. There was never money coming out of the employees pay, unless they wished to contribute more themselves into their accounts. She eXplained that you can get that money out when you leave the City, or you can leave it in until you retire. There is an Emergency Withdrawal Option, but these requests will be checked by the IRS for validity because there may be penalties for the removal of the money. Mr. Ayers asked if you could switch the amount of money invested in your personal ICMA accounts. Ms. Sigler explained that he could move his investments anyway he wanted even on a daily basis. Ms Hayes mentioned that you could borrow money against the 401(a) Pension Plan. -2- '-' ...., Ms. Sigler said that some employees are confusing their ICMA Plan with the 40 I (a) Pension Plan. Mr. Ayers asked about the General Employees Pension Plan. Ms. Sigler explained that the General Employee's Pension Board was trying to get their plan up to or comparable to the Police and Fire Pension. They want to change the normal retirement date to age 55 with five years of service or 25 years of service whichever comes first. Early retirement would be age 50 with five years or service or 20 years of service at any age. Your benefit on early retirement would be reduced to 5% what your normal retirement would be. Your pension is calculated with the average compensation of the highest three of the last ten years. Also that the death benefit use to read if you were married your spouse would be the beneficiary, if you were not married the money went back into the plan. They want it to read "an immediate payment of the present value of the employee's benefit payable in a lump sum or other available settlement option to a named beneficiary or if none, to the estate of the deceased". The board has told Principal to let us know what the cost will be for the City to make these changes. When we get that back Mr. Hooper will give the board his recommendation. At that time the board agreed to have a meeting with the entire membership of this pension to inform them of these changes, and get their input. Ms. Sigler told the committee if they know of any employee who is seriously considering retiring they should come to her office to find out what their pension would be at the time of retirement. She can call Principal and get that information. Ms. Hayes asked what the difference was between the 401(a) Pension and the General Employees Pension. Ms. Sigler explained that with the 401(a) Plan the employee is vested immediately, and the City contributes 12% of their gross income weekly. It's not guaranteed because they invest the money themselves. The General Employee's Plan is a Defined Benefit Plan. Some of the differences are the employees in the Defined Contribution Plan can contribute their own money, and if they leave employment they can get their money in lump sum. The employees don't contribute their own money in the General Employee's Plan, they can't borrow against it, but it is guaranteed. The Police and Fire Pension contribute 6% oftheir own money into their pension in order to get some of the benefits they wanted. The City couldn't afford to pay all the cost. One issue that came up at the General Employee Pension meeting was to see what it would cost to have a comparable pension as the Police and Fire, and whether they would want to contribute. Principal is also checking into the possibility of the General Employees switching over to the 401(a) if they want to. Ms. Sigler asked if the new language in the Personnel Policies and Procedure Manual Section 11.15 (C) "Use of City Property" was clear, and explained that the changes would have to go to Council for approval. She also asked regarding the language in Section III "Committees" explaining what the Personnel Advisory Committee duties are. This too would have to go to Council for approval. -3- ..... ..." Motion was made by Chief Barlow to accept changes to Section 11.15 "Use of City Property" and Section III "Committees" as shown seconded by Patricia Hayes. Motion CARRIED 4-0. Chief Barlow suggested adding this board as another branch for grievance procedures under Section 13.00 "General" in the Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual. Ms. Hayes suggested adding as a note in the manual. Ms. Sigler said we could add it under that Section as a "Note" referencing the board to this procedure. Chief Barlow made a Motion to accept the changes to Section 11.15 "Use of City Property" as shown with second by Patricia Hayes. Motion CARRIED 4-0. Chief Barlow made a Motion to accept the changes and additions to Section III "Committees" as written with second by Calvin Ayers. Motion CARRIED 4-0. Ms. Hayes said she had asked several employees if there was anything they wanted her to bring up at this meeting, and she was asked to inquire as to a four (4) day work week. She was also asked to inquire about having the public works parking lot paved due to the dust. Ms. Sigler explained that as far as paving the parking lot this committee wouldn't be apart of that kind of decision making. Those decisions needed to stay within the chain of command. The four day work week had been discussed previously by other departments, but no official recommendation was ever made. Serving the community will be the issue to look at. Ms. Hayes said the idea wasn't to shorten the work week, but to have half of the employees in the department would be off Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and others would be off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That would be extending the hours to five days a week ten hours a day. Chief Barlow felt that it could provide a better level of service within the community plus increase morale. He felt like that would take another committee to research a four day work week After lengthy discussion Chief Barlow and Ms. Sigler felt that City Manager Kenneth Hooper would be receptive to the idea. Ms. Sigler suggested contacting other cities or counties practicing the four day work week. Ms. Sigler said that the City was going to look into a true Cafeteria Plan of benefits for the employees. She was going to check with other cities to see how it works for them. She would get back to the committee regarding the Cafeteria Plan. -4- -- ..., ADJOURNMENT: Ms. Hayes made a motion to adjourn seconded by Chief Barlow. Motion CARRIED 4-0. It was decided that the next meeting would be Wednesday, December 6,2000 at 2:00 p.m. Minutes submitted by: loAnn Richard, Recording Secretary -5-