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12/07/1987CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING December 7, 1987 The City Commission of the City of Clearwater met in special session at the City Hall, Monday, December 7, 1987, at 5:04 p.m., with the following members present: Rita Garvey Mayor/Commissioner James L. Berfield Vice-Mayor/Commissioner Lee Regulski Commissioner Don Winner Commissioner William Nunamaker Commissioner Joseph R. McFate II Interim City Manager Gerald Weimer Assistant City Manager M. A. Galbraith, Jr. City Attorney Michael Laursen Personnel Director Daniel Deignan Finance Director Miles Lance Assistant City Attorney Shirley A. Corum Assistant City Clerk The Mayor called the meeting to order and the following item was discussed: Ordinance 4510-87, Pension Plan Section 26.30 (d) and (e) (page 3) - (d) Any person who has been an employee of the City and who has contributed to the Pension Plan under the provisions of this article, but whose service has terminated, may be reinstated into the pension plan upon being reemployed by the City, and passing the required physical examination, provided the contributions paid during the employee's previous employment have not been withdrawn. Such person shall not be given any credit for service for any time during which they have not actually been employed by the City. (e) Any person whose previous employment with the City was terminated for any reason except discharge, and who withdrew his or her contributions under the pension plan shall not be eligible for readmission into the pension plan upon reemployment with the City of Clearwater, unless he or she meets all the requirements for membership in the pension plan which apply to new employees. Discussion ensued regarding including a provision for reinstatement into the pension plan. The Finance Director stated the cost of a buy back provision will impact the plan. For example, the impact of the Lois Maroon reinstatement into the pension plan would be a cost to the City of $50,000. Total cost includes the additional cost to the plan plus the elimination of gain which accrues when an employee leaves City employment. The Personnel Director stated under Civil Service rules, if an employee returns to City employment within six months, all sick leave, seniority, etc. are restored to the employee. Commission consensus was to allow a six month period from an employee's resignation to either withdraw pension contributions, withdraw resignation, or be rehired by the City. If an employee withdraws contributions during the six month period following resignation, they will be eligible for reentry into the pension plan only as a new hire should they withdraw the resignation or be rehired by the City. Section 26.31 (b) (page 4) - Current employees on the date of adoption of this ordinance who are not plan participants may apply for participation, and shall be admitted upon passing the required medical examination as determined by the Pension Advisory Committee. Commission consensus was to add as new participants after "admitted". A question was raised regarding Section 26.32, Subsection (b) (page 5) .....not to exceed an additional two percent of their current salaries. It was suggested that rather than providing for a six percent employee con- tribution with an additional two percent, the ordinance should state "a maximum of eight percent". The Personnel Director stated there is the hope that employee contributions could be dropped back to six percent in the future. Mayor Garvey stated she felt the employees should share equally in the cost of the pension plan. The Assistant City Manager stated from 1945 to 1973, there was never an actuarial evaluation of the pension plan. The contributions, therefore, were not as much as they should have been and the City is having to pay back the unfunded liability over a 40 year period. Section 26.33 (2) (page 6) - The Board of Trustees shall have the authority to overrule any decision of the Pension Advisory Committee on the granting, denial, or modification of any disability pension upon the concurrence of not less than four-fifths of the trustees, and shall have the authority to overrule all other decisions by a simple majority vote. The Finance Director requested that this section be amended to add of the Pension Advisory Committee before "by a simple majority vote". The meeting recessed from 6:32 to 6:43 p.m. Commissioner Regulski left the meeting. Section 26.335 (b) (page 9) - The term of office of each advisory committee member shall be two years. Members of the pension advisory committee existing on the date of adoption of this ordinance shall continue to serve the full term to which they have been elected. The Finance Director stated the Rewrite Committee requests that existing be deleted from this section. Mayor Garvey expressed Steve Zimmerman's concerns regarding more than one Pension Advisory Committee member per department. Discussion ensued regarding the method of election to the Advisory Committee. Commission consensus was to leave the ordinance as it is with the membership not restricted by department. Section 26.34 (a) (page 11) - Regular retirement benefits and vested retirement benefits shall be computed at 2-1/2% of the employee's average annual salary of the last five years of plan participation, multiplied by the number of years of plan participation. It was suggested the section regarding benefit cap, Section 26.38(b), be referenced in this section. Section 26.34 (b) (page 11) - Salary shall be defined to include regular pay, bonuses, overtime pay, sick leave (except when paid in lump sum as a retirement benefit), vacation pay, special acting pay, Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay, incentive pay (basic, career, and education), and leave pay (funeral, military, union, and jury), but shall not include clothing, car or meal allowances, tuition refunds, gas sales commissions, or fringe benefits provided by the City. Discussion ensued regarding overtime being included in definition of salary. Mike Stuart, of the Pension Rewrite Committee, stated Florida Statutes does not prohibit overtime from being included. He stated, if the City determines that overtime not be included, previous contributions withheld for pension should be paid back. The Finance Director stated the Internal Revenue Service requires that, if a police officer acts on behalf of the City, compensation must go through the Payroll Division. Commission consensus was to leave subsection (b) as is. Section 26.35 (d) (page 15) - All payments or any right to payment shall cease immediately upon the death or remarriage of the widow or widower, death or marriage of a child or of a dependent mother or father. All payments or any right to payment shall cease immediately upon a child reaching age 18 or 22 years if the child is an eligible student. A question was raised regarding the word eligible. Commission consensus was to change the language in subsection (d) to conform to the language in subsection (c) which states "the word child or children will mean those children who are less than 18 years of age and dependent on the employee at the time of the employee's death, or a child or children who are less than 22 years of age and dependent on the employee at the time of the employee's death if the child or children are regular full time students in a university, college, high school or trade school". Section 26.36 (f) (page 15) - At an employee's election, prior to retirement, an optional benefit may be selected which would continue the one hundred percent benefit after five years, instead of fifty percent. The amount of the optional benefit shall be actually computed so that the cost to the pension plan is equal to the cost had the normal benefit been selected. This option shall not be available to an employee after retirement. John Nicholson, of the Pension Rewrite Committee, stated should an employee elect to take a smaller pension so that the spouse benefit would not decrease, there could be a problem determining the amount of the dollar benefit due to the differentiation between male and female life spans. It was pointed out this differentiation between male and female could be a violation of unisex regulations which provide for neutral gender. The Finance Director stated the option provided in subsection (f) would require an additional amount of work for the Finance Department. Commission consensus was to delete subsection (f). Section 26.38 (a) (pages 16 & 17) - The sum of $300 per month is hereby established as the minimum pension for an employee, and any employee or employee's widow or widower or other family member entitled to a pension shall be entitled to a pension of not less than $300 per month; provided, however, that a widow or widower or other family member eligible to receive fifty percent of an employee's pension under Section 26.36(b) shall receive not less than S150 per month. Jack Marsh, of the Retiree's Association, stated he feels Ogle and Waters' figures regarding the minimum benefit are incorrect. Mr. Marsh stated the minimum benefit is a decreasing cost and he requested the City Commission consider a $500 minimum rather than $300. Addressing the ballot question, which the City Attorney suggested be one question, the Retiree's Association is requesting at least two questions; the first dealing with the cost of living increase by the Board of Trustees and the second with approval of the rest of the ordinance. Discussion ensued regarding raising the minimum pension. The Finance Director suggested one alternative would be setting the alternative at $300 with an automatic cost of living adjustment not to exceed five percent added yearly. The cost to the plan of this provision would be approximately $3,300 per year. The Personnel Director stated subsection (c), which states "the minimum benefit shall be subject to review annually and may be increased by the Trustees not to exceed a maximum increase of five percent in any one year", allows a certain amount of flexibility as the Trustees can grant up to a five percent increase on minimum benefits each and every year. Commission consensus was to leave the provisions as stated. Section 26.43 Effect on other pension plans (page 18) - Nothing contained in this article shall be construed so as to adversely affect the benefits paid to any person who is receiving benefits or who has been approved for benefits by the Pension Advisory Committee at the tine of passage of this ordinance. It was suggested the wording in this section be clarified and the title changed to read: Effect on existing benefits. It was pointed out this section of the ordinance deals with benefits that have been approved prior to the adoption of the ordinance. Mike Stuart stated the Fraternal Order of Police opposes the ordinance and will be requesting the pension plan be negotiated. Van Horton stated the C.W.A. has already requested to bargain the pension plan. The I.A.F.F. has not yet made a decision. The Interim City Manager stated that after an agreement is reached with the unions, it will go to referendum for voter approval. The Pension Rewrite Committee is scheduled to meet again on Thursday, December 10th to finalize the draft of the ordinance. It will then go to the unions for bargaining. The following items were discussed earlier in the meeting when Commissioner Regulski was present. Substitution of complainant in the Kenton Ethics complaint The Interim City Manager stated the complainant in the Michael Kenton ethics complaint was former City Manager, Anthony L. Shoemaker. As Mr. Shoemaker is no longer employed by the City, a complainant needs to be substituted. The Interim City Manager requested the City Commission indemnify all expenses incurred in the prosecution of this ethics complaint. Commissioner Winner moved to authorize the substitution of the Interim City Manager as the complainant in the Kenton ethics complaint and to indemnify the former City Manager's expenses and the Interim City Manager's expenses in moving forward with this complaint. Motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Authorization to hire independent counsel in the Fred Thomas case. The Interim City Manager requested the City Commission authorize the hiring of independent counsel to defend Andy Onufer and Dave Christiansen of the Building Department in Fred Thomas's suit against them individually. Commissioner Regulski moved to hire independent counsel to defend Andy Onufer and Dave Christiansen and to pay reasonable attorneys fees and expenses. Motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Commissioner Nunamaker left the meeting at 7:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m.