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Minutes 8-13-13 MINUTES OF THE BUDGET WORKSHOP OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013 AT 5:00 PM. City Commission Members present: Mike Borno, Mayor Maria Mark, Mayor Pro Tem Mark Beckenbach, Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty, Commissioner Carolyn Woods, Commissioner Staff present: Jim Hanson, City Manager Nelson Van Liere, Finance Director Donna Kaluzniak, Public Utilities Director Rick Carper, Public Works Director Mike Classey, Police Chief Keith Randich, Information Technology Director Sue Danhauser, Human Resource Director Donna L. Bartle, City Clerk The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Borno. Health Care Reform update Brooks Faison of Harden and Associates, gave an update on Health Care Reform. He explained there are no maximum out-of-pocket limitations now with your health insurance, meaning employers can eliminate those if they chose to for 2014; the City is compliant in all aspects of the Health Care Reform legislation including the plans, the out-of-pocket limitations (if there were some), and the maximum employee premium allowed which is no more than 9 1/2 % of the employees gross annual income; the only thing that will impact the employees in 2014 is the Federal Exchange Option; the State of Florida does not participate in a state exchange; we will have a federal exchange. He reported that notices will be sent out to the employees by October 1St and he read the language contained in the notices. He stated that because the City of Atlantic Beach offers employer-offered coverage and meets all the requirements, an employee cannot leave the City's plan and receive a subsidy. He reported the employee-mandate portion, which includes the requirement for everyone in the United States to have health insurance coverage, will take effect January 1, 2014, but the employer-mandate portion, which includes the requirement to offer coverage or pay a penalty, will not start until January 1, 2015. He reported the taxes and mandates in the legislation will affect the City's health insurance rates with an increase between three to five percent. He stated the employer-mandate portion beginning in 2015 pertains to employees working 30 hours or more. He and Human Resource Director Sue Danhauser answered questions from the Commission. He distributed handouts containing the details on what he summarized (which are attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment A). Police (Handout: Atlantic Beach Police Department, which is attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment B) Police Chief Mike Classey referred to the handout and explained the Police Department personnel, reporting the FY 2014 budget authorizes 28 officers assigned to divisions such as Patrol, which includes community- oriented policing (COPs); General Investigations and Crime Suppression Unit; and also authorizes 15 total civilian staff, including three which are part-time, assigned to divisions such as Emergency Dispatch, Records, including property and evidence, Animal Control, and School Crossing Guards. Minutes—City Commission Workshop August 13,2013 Page 2 Fire/Rescue Chief Classey explained the Fire/Rescue Services stating our fire services have been provided by the City of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue (JFRD) by contract since 1999. He gave a history of the cost and answered questions from the Commission. Lifeguards Chief Classey reported on lifeguards noting that the lifeguard season covers April through September and the City of Jacksonville contributes $170,779 for personnel and operating expenses per the Interlocal Agreement. He explained the FY 2014 personnel and operating expenses will be $203,354. He answered questions and explained the Junior Lifeguard program was not being proposed for the next budget year for a number of reasons. Pedestrian/Bike Safety Chief Classey reported on Pedestrian/Bike Safety which was the Commission's number 3 priority identified in strategic planning. He gave an overview of the study completed by the Police Department. He reported the status of projects aimed to improve pedestrian and bike safety and answered questions from the Commission. Citizen Police Academy Chief Classey explained the Citizen Police Academy is a discretionary project; it is an 8-12 week program that meets one evening per week (2-3 hours) and one Saturday during the program; the program educates local residents about a variety of topics including: Communications, Investigations, Traffic/DUI, Patrol, Crime Prevention, Firearms, and Defensive Tactics/Taser/Pepper Spray; the program promotes open lines of communication between citizens and police officers helping local residents better understand police work in Atlantic Beach; and it's a great opportunity for the police to inform the public of what we do, the challenges we face, and to obtain citizen input, assistance and support throughout the community. He reported the cost to run the program is approximately $10,000 and forfeiture funds can be used. He answered questions from the Commission. Police Rental Space Chief Classey explained, because there is a need for additional space in the Police Building, he is requesting money to be added to the budget to rent a commercial space for a Sergeant and four Detectives to move their operations to. He explained it would be a temporary, limited solution. He explained his proposal for a 500 s.f. building and reported the estimated costs. The initial setup will cost $13,750 for switching, wiring, internet cabling, firewall, electrical, alarm and phones; and the annual cost will be $26,600 for rent, internet, phone, utilities and alarm. He answered questions from the Commission as they offered other ideas. FY 2013-14 Grants Chief Classey reported the only grant we received this year was the JAG grant totally $81,205 which included salaries for one full-time COPs officer and one full-time Crime Suppression Unit(CSU) Detective. Police Special Revenue Funds Chief Classey explained Police Training Funds are restricted funds from a surcharge on traffic citations dedicated for police training and the fund balance exceeds $120,000. He explained the Radio Communications Fund is a restricted fund to be used for radio airtime, laptop airtime, or other related emergency communications expenses and makes up 22% of the total communications budget. Minutes—City Commission Workshop August 13, 2013 Page 3 Forfeiture Funds Chief Classey explained Forfeiture Funds stating the seized money usually comes from drug cases. He indicated the fund balance is about $35,000; revenue is very difficult to budget for; and all forfeiture expenditures go to the Commission for approval. He answered questions from the Commission regarding crime, staffing, shifts and case loads. He explained the accreditation process, the advantages for having accreditation and his experience with it. Mr. Hanson expressed his opinion on accreditation. There was a discussion about the possibility of adding new office space for the Police Detectives at the Jordan Park Community Center. Commissioner Daugherty asked that this be put on the agenda for the workshop on August 26, 2013 to further discuss it. Human Resources (Handout: Human Resources, which is attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment C) General Insurance Human Resource Director Sue Danhauser explained General Insurance, also known as Property & Liability Insurance, includes Automobile, Property, General Liability, Fiduciary, Police Statutory, Pollution and Environmental and Workers Compensation. She stated the current year cost was about $517,000 and the budget for next year is approximately $509,000, noting the final renewal numbers will be available for the August 26, 2013 workshop. She reported the need for Flood insurance since FEMA has redone the flood maps and some of the City's essential buildings, such as the Commission Chamber and City Hall, are now in a Flood Zone Area. She believes that even with adding the extra insurance, it should stay under budget. Employee Compensation Ms. Danhauser explained compensation includes salary and benefits and reminded the Commission that one of the top priorities in the strategic plan was to look at our recruitment and retention. She referred to and explained the graph showing employee turnover, noting that we have to keep an eye on it since we recently made benefit reductions in pension, personal leave, and longevity which could affect the future. She reported the last pay increase was in 2008 and the estimated inflation from that time to now is 8.5%. Commissioner Woods questioned the high number since the numbers from the past were very low. Ms. Danhauser explained the number used in the past was the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and she does not recommend using it. Commissioner Woods stated she would like to know what the CPI is and Ms. Danhauser agreed to look it up and report back to the Commission. Review cost of pay plan recommendations Ms. Danhauser reported on the Pay Study Recommendations, explaining there were several steps in the recommendation. She explained in the first step they looked at everyone's position and where they fell in the pay grades; if someone moved up a pay grade and their salary fell in that range, there was no adjustment; and just to do step one, it only involves four people that would get a pay increase. She stated the two non-union employees that, if implemented, would get the pay adjustments are the Records Clerk in the City Clerk's office and the Police Evidence Technician; the other two are in the union and cannot be reported to the Commission until they hold a shade meeting. She reported that step one would cost $15,400 to implement. Step two was done to alleviate pay compression caused by not having pay increases in five years. Many are bundled up and paid at entry level. What they came up with is to do a flat dollar amount for years in the position from one year up through the five years that we haven't had increases. She answered questions from the Commission and reported the total cost for steps one and two is $96,800. She explained step three is to restart the merit program which is based on midpoint. She explained that for a 1% increase, the employees who are at midpoint or below would get more than 1% since they are not at midpoint, but the employees over midpoint would get less than 1%. She was questioned why a merit Minutes—City Commission Workshop August 13,2013 Page 4 increase was being recommended rather than a COLA and she explained the merit is based on pay for performance instead of across the board. Discussion ensued. She and Mr. Hanson referred to the slide showing the total costs while they explained the impact on the General Fund. She explained the last recommendation is for the employees who are at the maximum of their pay grade. She stated our policy now says they do not get any increases once they've hit the maximum and if we implement this. She stated we do have ten employees who are at or over maximum; they were allowed to go over maximum when we put the longevity in their pay, which was a one-time exception. She stated the recommendation is to do something for them to still acknowledge their job performance by awarding a one-time bonus equal to the amount of the merit earned. Ms. Danhauser explained Employee Benefits. The City-funded benefits include medical coverage, wellness program, life insurance and employee assistance program. The other benefits are all voluntary, meaning the employee pays 100% of the costs. They include dental, vision, supplemental life, short-term and long-term disability, flexible spending account and 457 deferred compensation. She referred to the chart titled City Expense for Medical as she explained the history and the trends. Mr. Hanson and Ms. Danhauser answered questions regarding compensation and benefits. Supplementary List of Projects (Handout: Supplemental List of Projects Not Included in Budget, which is attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment D) Mr. Hanson distributed a revised Supplemental List of Projects Not Included in Budget, pointing out that the changes since the initial one are in red. He referred to the list as he reported costs and funding options for the various items and answered questions from the Commission. The Commission had a lengthy discussion on pay and benefits and where they can take money from to pay for the proposed pay plan adjustments recommended by the consultants. They discussed the General Fund (page 107) and the Half Cent Sales Tax (page 116) as funding options by moving $82,000 of resurfacing budget to the Half Cent Sales Tax Fund, then transferring $163,857 from Gas Tax Fund to the General Fund to pay for the pay increases. (Commissioner Daugherty left the meeting at 7:51 p.m. and returned at 7:53 p.m.) (Commissioner Beckenbach left the meeting for 30 seconds at 7:53 p.m.) Consensus: Take half of the cost out of the Half Cent Sales Tax and the other half out of the General Fund in order to implement the pay plan adjustments suggested by the consultants using the 2% merit pay option. The Commission went through each item on the list to decide whether or not to add them to the proposed budget. There was a consensus to add money to the proposed budget for the following items: 1. Pay Plan Adjustments recommended by the consultants: Steps 1, 2 and 2% merit - $ 217,500 2. Welcome Signs; Various locations - $ 11,000 3. Mayport Road Landscape Matching Program - $6,500 4. Police Citizens Academy - $7,500 5. Rental Space for Detectives - $ 40,350 6. Robert Street Ditch Improvements - $ 50,000 (for matching funds with FDOT) 7. Expansion of Kennel- $ 40,000 8. Bull Park Gazebo - $ 40,000 9. Sound System Improvements for Commission Chambers and other locations - $ 15,500 10. East Coast Drive Streetscape - $ 79,000 11. Seminole Road streetscape project - $ 250,000 Minutes—City Commission Workshop August 13,2013 Page 5 12. Fountain Project on Mayport Road - $ 5,000 13. Rose Park Playground Equipment- $ 40,000 (After the meeting, a table was prepared in order to show the thirteen adjustments to the proposed budget, which is attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment E). There was discussion about changing the $50,000 in the proposed budget for the Parks Master Plan to use for a Community Visioning project which would cover Parks as one of the topics. The consensus was to leave the $50,000 in the budget, but decide which project to use it on at a later time. There being no further discussion by the City Commission, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 8:51 p.m. (3 Mike Borno Mayor dr,-.4,(4) 31dka& Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk