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04/12/2001PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER April 12, 2001 Present: Dick Fitzgerald Acting Chair/Committee Member Steve Sarnoff Committee Member Bill Jonson Committee Member/Commissioner Ed Hart Committee Member/Commissioner John Schmalzbauer Committee Member Absent: John Lee Committee Member Whitney Gray Committee Member/Commissioner Also Present: Lee Dehner Pension Advisory Committee Attorney Paul O’Rourke Human Resources Administrator Debbie Ford Human Resources Analyst Brenda Moses Board Reporter The Acting Chair called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. Human Resources Administrator Paul O’Rourke said the Pension Advisory Committee (PAC) needs to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair at the next meeting. Any member of the PAC can be nominated. Member Schmalzbauer moved to nominate Member Fitzgerald as Chair. The motion was duly seconded. Discussion ensued regarding a Chair and Vice-Chair. It was felt the election for a Chair and Vice-Chair should be postponed to the next meeting since 2 members of the PAC were absent. Member Schmalzbauer withdrew his motion and the seconder agreed. ITEM #2 – Approval of Minutes of March 8, 2001 Member Schmalzbauer moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 8, 2001, as submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 – Employees to be heard – None. ITEM #4 – Action Items Review and Action on Employee Requests for Years of Service Pensions Margaret Jewett, Police Wilson McGill, Parks & Recreation Nancy Burgarella, Police Member Schmalzbauer moved to approve the requests by Margaret Jewett, Wilson McGill, and Nancy Burgarella for a Years of Service Pension. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Review and Action on Employee Requests to Vest Pensions Patricia Schrembs, Police Member Schmalzbauer moved to approve the request by Patricia Schrembs to vest her pension. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Approval of New Hires as Plan members: As of April 5, 2001, the City had 1,683.02 FTEs out of 1,799.3 budgeted positions (including the City Commission). Member Jonson moved to accept the following employees into membership in the Pension Plan: Date of Pension Employment Elig. Date Timothy Buis, Field Svc. Rep. Cust. Svc. 2/26/01 2/26/01 Deven Filer, Rec. Leader Parks & Rec. 6/15/92 2/26/01* Donathan Clark, Parks Svc. Tech I. Parks & Rec. 2/26/01 2/26/01 Jay Neal, Gas Tech I Gas 2/26/01 2/26/01 Timothy Coleman, Traffic Tech Public Svcs 2/26/01 2/26/01 Travis Lowe, Custodial Worker Parks & Rec. 2/26/01 2/26/01 Barbara Buchinsky, Rec. Programmer Parks & Rec. 7/31/00 2/26/01* Eric McBridge, Parks Svc Tech I Parks & Rec. 3/12/01 3/12/01 Angela Aldrich, Human Resources Tech Human Resources 5/28/91 3/12/01** Benjamin Hailey, Police Cadet Police 3/12/01 3/12/01* Steve White, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Rodney Rivera, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 John Moscatelli, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Eric McCraw, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Christopher Lyons, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Lamon Green, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 John Rementer, Solid Waste Worker Solid Waste 3/12/01 3/12/01 Scott Maurer, Rec. Programmer Parks & Rec. 2/14/00 3/12/01*** Suzanne Ruley, Rec. Programmer Parks & Rec. 3/12/01 3/12/01 Stanley Conord, Police recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Roy Reel, Pub. Utilities Tech I Public Utilities 3/26/01 3/26/01 JoAnn Stinyard, Police Recruit Police 3/12/01 3/12/01 Kelley King, Parks Svc. Tech I Parks & Rec. 3/26/01 3/26/01 Linda Belinske, Survey Assistant I Public Services 3/26/01 3/26/01 Jason Clark, Mechanic I General Sup. Svcs. 3/26/01 3/26/01 Scott Oster, Wat. & Pub. Utilities Coord. Public Utilities 4/2/01 4/2/01 * Originally hired as permanent part-time; status changed to full-time and pension eligible as of 2/26/01. ** Originally hired as full-time; transferred to part-time; status to change to full-time and pension eligible as of 3/12/01. *** Originally hired as permanent part-time; status changed to full-time and pension eligible as of 3/12/01. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #5 – Pending/New Business Johnny Jackson – Schedule Hearing on Request for Non-Job Connected Disability Mr. O’Rourke requested that a meeting be scheduled to hear a request by Johnny Jackson for a non-job connected disability. Pension Advisory Committee Attorney Lee Dehner said final doctor reports would be available next week. A request was made of Dr. Moskovitz as to Mr. Jackson’s work capabilities. In response to a question, Mr. O’Rourke said Mr. Jackson currently works the night shift driving a sweeper machine. He performs maintenance-related tasks. He generally is absent 1 day a week due to his illness. His health is deteriorating. Member Jonson moved to schedule a formal hearing at the next PAC meeting scheduled for May 10, 2001. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Integrated Disability Management In June 2000, the Human Resources Department distributed a Request for Proposal (RFP) for consulting services to conduct an evaluation of the feasibility of integrated disability management (IDM) in the City (e.g., integration of occupational and non-occupational injuries and illnesses, short-term and long-term disability, FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and Return-to-Work case management). There were 3 respondents to the RFP: HealthSouth, Corvel, and Aon Consulting, Inc. A selection team, consisting of representatives from Human Resources, Finance, Risk Management, and the CWA, evaluated these responses based on the criteria outlined in the RFP (cost, company background, education and training, experience, content expertise, interpersonal skills an reputation/references). Reference checks were conducted, and interviews were held with representatives from the 3 candidates. Based on the results of this process, the interview team selected Aon Consulting, Inc. as the recommended provider for this service. The Assessment Process components will include an evaluation of communications processes and needs, a determination of the cost of disability components either using a combination of actual data or models, a data/documentation review, interviews with management, supervisory and hourly representatives, and vendor/carrier files reviews. This process will involve both job-connected (Workers’ compensation) and non-job connected cases, policies, and processes. The end product will be a final report, which will include an executive summary, the determined cost of disability, major findings/opportunities/recommendations, an action plan and timeline for implementation, and appendices detailing the assessment findings and processes. The total cost for this evaluation is $49,000 ($40,000 from unappropriated retaining earnings and $9,000 from the Pension Fund). Funding is provided through 2 sources because these are processes and issues pertaining to job-connected and non-job connected situations and also to situations which are affected by the provisions of the Pension Plan regarding disability pensions. After approval is granted, this project will be completed in approximately 12 weeks. Human Resources staff was commended for the efforts they are making in addressing issues and related costs of disability issues. It was remarked that the City and the union are working together to address short and long term disability issues. As the workforce ages and injuries occur, employees cannot always be placed into other positions. Mr. O’Rourke said if this item is approved today by the PAC, it would go before the Pension Trustees for approval. The Commission would be asked to approve the other $40,000. In response to a question, he said this assessment would provide the City with information regarding the driving forces behind the 10% - 14% costs to payroll for disability compensation. It also would provide an analysis of how the City is handling the occupational and non-occupational clients from a case management perspective. He said although this is a preliminary analysis, there are specific goals the City wants to accomplish that cannot be addressed until this analysis is completed. Concern was expressed that if the outcome of the assessment requires an amendment to the Pension Plan ordinance, that there would be insufficient time for Commission review and for the amendments to be included on the March referendum. Mr. O’Rourke said this process is significant and time consuming. Even if the assessment were performed in June, there may not be sufficient time for it to be placed on the March referendum. It was remarked that no one wants to delay the project but it was felt that such items should be budgeted for instead of relying on the unappropriated retained earnings fund. It was suggested this item and future anticipated related items be added to the budget rather than being funded from the unappropriated retained earnings. Mr. O’Rourke said staff would estimate costs for the entire process and include it in the FY 2002 budget. Mr. O’Rourke said a presentation regarding the assessment would be presented to the PAC at the May 10, 2001, meeting. Staff also will review long term objectives. It was requested the presentation include an outline of proposals and a timeline for the entire process. It was suggested that the presentation to the Commission include a schedule including goals, required approvals, and projected total costs. It was requested that as part of the investment training education sessions scheduled for the PAC, the PAC’s rules be reviewed. Member Sarnoff moved to recommend that the Pension Advisory Committee recommend to the Pension Trustees to award a payment of $9,000 from the appropriate funding source in the Pension to support the integrated disability management contract. The motion was duly seconded. One member said he would vote for the motion because he is in favor of the study, but may vote differently regarding the unappropriated retaining earnings to delay the action until the next budget cycle. Upon the vote being taken, the motion carried unanimously. In response to a question, Mr. O’Rourke said although the PAC approved the contract to Aon Consulting, staff will give the PAC a presentation in order to understand the long-term implications and costs would be included in the proposed FY 2002 budget. ITEM #6 - Director’s Reports Mr. O’Rourke welcomed the 3 new members. ITEM #7 – Committee Members to be Heard Member Sarnoff said it is an honor to serve on the PAC. He thanked those who voted for him. He said this is the first time in 24 years that the Communication Workers Local of America has had a representative from the union on the PAC. Member Jonson said he considers employees to be the City’s greatest asset. He said the PAC is important as it supports those employees who perform most of the work in the City. Member Hart welcomed the new members. Member Schmalzbauer requested that Member Fitzgerald consider accepting the position of PAC Chair. ITEM #8 – Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:38 a.m.