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12/18/2006 BUDGET TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES CITY OF CLEARWATER December 18, 2006 Present: R. Nathan Hightower Chair Herbert W. McLachlan Vice Chair Joseph W. Evich Board Member Isay M. Gulley Board Member Robert L. Longenecker Board Member Joyce E. Martin Board Member Jesse Sherman Board Member James E. Strickland Board Member Douglas J. Williams Board Member Absent: Martin L. Altner Board Member Charles J. Rutz Board Member Also Present Tina Wilson Budget Director Margie Simmons Finance Director Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. at the Main Library. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 2. Approval of Minutes – December 11, 2006 Member Williams moved to approve the minutes of the December 11, 2006, meeting, as motion submitted in written summation to each board member. The was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Questions/Discussion regarding December 11, 2006, meeting - None. 4. Staff Presentation – Employee Benefits Human Resources Director Joe Roseto and Finance Director Margie Simmons provided a PowerPoint presentation. a. Retirement Programs City retirement programs include the Pension Plan, Supplemental Pension Plans, 401(a), and Social Security. The Employee Pension Plan is a defined benefit plan. All full-time employees initially hired in a civil service position (below Division Manager level) participate. Covered positions include CWA (Communications Workers of America), Fire, Police, and the first three levels of SAMP (Supervisory, Administrative, Managerial, and Professional). Employees promoted to managerial positions can remain in the Plan. Pension participants do not contribute to Social Task Force – Budget 2006-12-18 1 Security but contribute 8% of their pay to the plan, as set by ordinance. The City contributes at least 7% of pay, plus any additional amount required to keep the Plan actuarially funded. Participants are vested after 10 years. Sworn police officers and firefighters are eligible for retirement following 20 years of service, or 10 years of service and age 55. General employees are eligible for retirement following 30 years of service, or 20 years of service and age 55, or 10 years of service and age 65. The benefit calculation multiplies the average of the highest yearly salary over five years, by 2.75% and years of service. Full-time sworn Police and Fire personnel are eligible to participate in separate Police/ Fire Supplemental plans, which are defined contribution plans funded by the State through a tax on homeowners insurance. Trustees oversee each plan. The benefit, based on time served, is a one-time, lump sum distributed at retirement. Full-time employees hired at the level of division manager or above and not members of the Pension Plan participate in the 401(a) Plan, a defined contribution program. Covered positions: 1) City Manager (contributions: City - 15% of pay, employee - 2% of pay); 2) City Attorney (contributions: City - 15%, employee - 2%); 3) Police Chief (contribution: City - 14%, employee - 2%); and 4) SAMP 4, 5, and 6 (contributions: City – 8%, employee 0%). Participants are 100% vested with the entire balance in the account upon hire. These employees, except the Police Chief, also participate in Social Security, a defined benefit program. Contributions: City - 6.2% of pay and employees - 6.2% of pay. Participants in the 401(a) plan can invest these tax-deferred funds in the mutual fund of their choice. Tax deferred employee contributions are limited by IRS (Internal Revenue Service) rules. Increasing permitted contributions would require IRS and City Council approval. For Pension Plan participants, the City contributes at least 7% of pay, or the amount determined by the actuary. The City’s actuarial contribution will be approximately 20% of pay for 2007. For 401(a) participants, the City contributes: 1) City Manager – 21.2% of pay; 2) City Attorney – 21.2%; 3) Police Chief - (14% of pay plus $8,000 defined contribution, or 21% of pay; and 4) SAMP 4, 5, and 6 (14.2% of pay). All employees hired after 1986 contribute to Medicare. The Police Chief’s benefits are based on provisions in place years ago. Pension plan employees cannot participate in the 401(a) plan. All can participate in the 457 plan. In response to a question, Ms. Simmons reviewed an old fire pension fund that was poorly funded. This is the last year the City has to fund the plan. This year’s contribution was $1.5-million. Less than 40 retirees, firefighters and widows, are in the frozen plan, which has no current employees. A new use for those funds is in the 5-year forecast. Actuary oversight is required while the plan exists. When the fund has no remaining beneficiaries, remaining monies will be rolled into the Pension Plan. b. Health Insurance The City is fully insured with the provider carrying the risk. The Health Insurance contract is negotiated and awarded annually for the calendar year. Rates are based on claims. Task Force – Budget 2006-12-18 2 Only full-time employees, who work either 40 or 37.5 hours per week, are covered by health insurance. The current carrier is United HealthCare. Mental Health/Substance Abuse is carved out, with Bradman/Unipsych the current provider. The City offers voluntary dental and vision coverage at employee cost. The unions have waived their bargaining rights related to health insurance to participate in the Benefits Committee. As plan costs are unknown until completion of the bid process or negotiations with the current carrier, staff must estimate anticipated cost increases and employee plan elections during the budget process in May. Employees choose their plans in November. The Premium Stabilization Fund, established as a budgeting tool to minimize fluctuating cost increases, is supported by excess budgeted healthcare money. As of September 30, 2006, the Premium Stabilization Fund balance was approximately $3.8 million. These funds are held in the Central Insurance Fund Reserve. For FY (Fiscal Year) 2007, Medical insurance is budgeted at $11,833,600, or $6,400 per employee, for 1,849 full-time employees. EAP (Employee Assistance Program)/Mental Health/Substance Abuse is budgeted at $175,655, or $95 per employee. The City offers four plan options: two HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and two POS (Point of Service) plans. The City currently subsidizes medical insurance based on the standard option HMO rates and contributes: 1) 100% of standard HMO rate toward employee only premiums; 2) 75% of standard HMO rate toward employee plus one premiums; and 3) 68% of standard HMO rate toward employee plus family premiums. Actual annual City premiums for FY 2007 (all plans): 1) $4,887 - employee only; 2) $6,315 - employee plus one; and 3) $9,420 – employee plus family. Actual annual employee premiums for FY 2007 (HMO plan only): 1) $0 - employee only; 2) $2,109 - employee plus one; and 3) $4,431 – employee plus family. c. Life Insurance At an annual cost of $21,000, the City pays the premium for $2,500 basic life insurance coverage for active employees and $1,000 coverage for retirees. At an annual cost of $42,000, for SAMP employees, the City pays the premium for coverage equal to one times an employee’s annual base salary. At an annual cost of $23,000, the City pays the LTD (Long Term Disability) insurance premium for employees not participating in the Pension Plan. At an annual cost of $295,000, the City matches employee contributions for premiums up to 1% of an employee’s annual salary for individual life insurance. The elimination of this program is being negotiated. As planned, these funds would be used to increase the life insurance benefit for all. The PAC (Pension Advisory Committee) rules on job-connected and non-job connected disability claims. While the disability threshold for police officers and firefighters requires that they cannot perform their duties as a police officer or firefighter, other employees are found to be disabled only if they cannot qualify for other meaningful work in the City. Employees with job-connected disabilities do not have to be vested to receive a benefit, which is 66 2/3% of pay. Those with non-job-connected disabilities must be vested to qualify for a benefit. The LTD benefit is up to $5,000 per month, for up to 60 months, and up to the age of 65. The beneficiary must be a full-time City employee, not participate in the Pension Plan, and have a total disability. Task Force – Budget 2006-12-18 3 Paid Leaves There are 10 designated holidays per year (nine for Fire Department personnel). Employees also receive three “floating” holidays per year (four for Fire Department personnel). There is no accrual. Employees receive 10 to 20 vacation days per year and can accrue up to 240 hours. Upon separation, 100% of the vacation balance is paid at the employee’s base hourly rate of pay. Per year, union employees earn 12 sick leave days, and SAMP employees earn 10. Accrual is capped at 975 or 1,560 hours. Half of the balance is paid at the employee’s base hourly rate of pay upon retirement only. 5. Task Force Questions/Discussion In response to questions regarding retirement programs, Mr. Roseto said hazardous staff retiree benefits reflect the norm in Florida. The State requires 25 years of service to retire but bases benefits on a higher multiplier. Ms. Simmons said the actuary reviews the Pension Plan annually to determine the City’s required contribution. Based upon this year’s recommendation to increase City funding to 20%, she estimated a 24% increase is needed to cover hazardous employees and an 18% increase is needed to cover nonhazardous employees. Plan changes must be collectively bargained, approved by the Pension Trustees, and approved by City residents in a referendum. Pension benefits usually are not bargained, as they are codified by ordinance. Ms. Simmons reviewed actuarial assumptions, which are based on Plan history and consider promotions, not just wage increases. Pension beneficiaries receive a 1.5% annual COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment). Funds from the City’s contribution of 7% of pay during years when the actuarial recommendation was zero were set aside as a credit balance to smooth higher contributions that may be required in the future. A portion of the approximately $18 million credit balance will be used in 2007 to contribute 7% of pay, and lower the City’s required funding to 13%. By State law, the City is required to keep the Plan actuarially sound. A referendum question scheduled for March 2007 will request changing the Pension Plan investment strategy so that it mirrors State law. Plan employees who resign prior to vesting receive their contribution plus 5% simple interest. Those who vest their pensions upon resignation cannot receive benefits until their original eligibility date. Retirees are permitted to choose a benefit plan. All choices are actuarially equivalent and cannot be modified. In response to a comment that the Plan does not encourage retirement, Ms. Simmons said it is beneficial to the Plan when employees work longer. In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said all municipalities provide different benefits. While the private sector often offers matching contributions, the City does not. Regarding staff turnover, Mr. Roseto said the Fire Department has almost a zero turnover rate while the Police Department’s is approximately 5% to 6%. Some low-skilled CWA positions have turnover rates of 20%. Information was requested on turnover rates experienced Task Force – Budget 2006-12-18 4 by local municipalities. Mr. Roseto said police officers are more in demand as fewer people are pursuing that line of work. Benefits throughout the County are comparable. In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said firefighters generally stay with the City unless they retire or are asked to resign. Clearwater firefighters have new equipment, convenient work schedules, and many work in new facilities. It was noted these employees face big risks, but can retire when they are young. Ms. Simmons stated that information in distributed packets lists the number of employees who currently are qualified to retire. Consensus was to invite the police and fire union representatives to be available to respond to task force member questions when the Police and Fire Chiefs make their presentations. The CWA representative will be invited to the Parks & Recreation Director’s presentation. In response to a request, Ms. Wilson will provide the annual, not accrued, cost of employee benefits. As pay and benefits are mandated, it was felt there is little the Task Force can do to recommend reductions to these costs. Mr. Roseto said outside labor negotiations, the only option to lower employee costs would be to reduce the number of FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents). Reducing benefits would impact the City’s ability to compete with other public entities for new employees and current employees would leave. It was stated that it would be difficult to recommend an FTE reduction without knowing the impact on a department. Ms. Wilson reviewed the Task Force process, indicating that following review of the City’s pay plan and benefits, Task Force members will be able to address department directors regarding efficiencies, program functions, and redundancies. In response to a question, Ms. Simmons said Parking Enterprise Fund staff had been transferred to the General Fund due to a loss of beach parking, which previously generated revenue that paid for beach guards and beach cleaning. Subject parking will be eliminated in February 2007. She suggested that the fund balance in the Parking Fund may be used to construct beach and/or downtown parking garages. A study indicated that City parking garages would not be self-funding, especially with increasing land and construction costs. Concerns were expressed that Clearwater’s government has experienced significant growth and a large increase in FTEs and that reductions to ad valorem taxes would not cover high government costs. It was stated that the Task Force was tasked with findings ways to reduce costs. The City Manager reported last year, the City Council had approved 32 new FTE positions. In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said that retirees must pay the entire cost of health insurance benefits. A recent change prevents retirees from re-admittance to the City’s health insurance plan once they leave it. Both employee and retiree claims are considered when rates are negotiated. Approximately 15% of retirees participate in the City’s health insurance plan. The City determines what the plan is. Retirees cannot bargain for benefits. Mr. Roseto said the City always has empty positions. Staff considers the necessity of all empty positions and makes recommendations to Assistance City Manager Garry Brumback. City Council approval is not necessary to reduce the number of employees. Cost savings Task Force – Budget 2006-12-18 5 . . . related to empty positions go to the reserves. Department managers are encouraged to be frugal and do a good job in keeping costs down. They need to fill vacancies to operate effectively. A list of unfilled positions was requested. It was stated that cuts could be made without reducing services if operations can be accomplished with fewer people. It was stated that cost benefits must be weighed and it was recommended that the Task Force focus on long term changes over the next three to 10 years. The City Manager said staff levels are based on actual City experiences in serving citizens and meeting community expectations. He said, for example, that beach residents had been vocal in opposing his proposal to close the beach library and the City Council had eliminated that option. 6. Information for next meetinq For discussion on December 26, 2006, Ms. Wilson requested that Task Force members review the packet distributed today and review the budget document: 1) Pages 155 - 159 on Information Technology and 2) Pages 267 - 273 on General Services. 7. Adiourn , ~L!Y ?J/) The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Budget Task Force Task Force - Budget 2006-12-18 6