Letter from Patty Drake April 8, 2013
To: City of Atlantic Beach Commission
From: Patty Drake
City of Atlantic Beach employee, 7.5 years
This is in regards to the non-bargaining employees' benefits being discussed at tonight's meeting.
At time of employment, each employee is given an Employee Benefit Summary handout(attached),
which summarizes the City's benefits plans, including but not limited to the following
• Insurance
• Pension
• Leave Accrual
• Leave "Cash In" Program
After reviewing and discussing this information with the City, I agreed to accept the position based on
the information provided to me. Since then the following has occurred over the years:
• Employee retirement contributions have increased by 2%
• No raises for four consecutive years
• Increased employee out-of-pocket insurance expenses
Today's Staff Report proposes that the employee's should again accept additional reductions in benefits
by:
• Reducing the total maximum accrual leave by 280 hours (960 down to 680)
• Reducing the number of hours accrued per pay period
• Eliminating the Leave Cash In program
• Reducing the leave Cash In at time of separation by 50%for those employees with less than ten
years of service
• Eliminating longevity pay
• Increasing the employee's retirement contribution by 1%for a total of 6%contribution
• Eliminating the Pension Plan for those hired on or after September 1, 2008
While it is recognized that some changes may need to occur for the future of the City,the newest
proposal should not be in effect for its current employees. Changes to benefits should be in effect as of
today for all NEW hires.
When I met with City personnel and accepted their offer, I signed a form stating that I would agree to be
an exemplary employee in return for the benefits plan. I have held my end of this contract by being
awarded Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year as well as multiple nominations for the
same.
Unfortunately,the City has not committed to its end of the contract;therefore, I ask that the items on
this agenda be carefully thought of before making a decision that will affect the livelihood of many
current employees.
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT SUMMARY
INSURANCE
The City has a Premium Only Cafeteria Plan (POP). This plan allows employees with dependent health,
dental, or life insurance deductions to exclude them from federal and social security taxation. This results
in higher net take home pay.
Health AETNA. Effective the first day of the third month after hire, the City provides all full time
employees with health insurance with the City paying 100% of the HMO employee
premium and 55%percent of the HMO difference in family, employee/spouse, or
employee/child(ren) premium.
HMO MONTHLY POS MONTHLY
Type Coverage Employee Cost Employee Cost
Employee Only $ 0.00 $ 24.78
Employee/Child(ren) $ 107.24 $ 153.56
Employee/Spouse $ 150.68 $205.78
Employee/Family $ 236.56 $ 308.80
•
Dental Fortis. The city offers HMO (Legend Series-Summit) and PPO (Dental Health Alliance-
DHA) dental programs with 100%paid by employees. Both are discount programs..
Vision VSP. Included with Fortis Dental at 100% paid by employees. BCBS also includes vision
programs: Vision One & TruVision. Both programs are discount programs.
Life ReliaStar. City provides and pays 100% of premium for one time annual salary with a
maximum of$50,000 term life insurance. Supplemental life insurance may be purchased
by the employee for themselves and family members.
FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS (FSA)
(Florida Combined Life) The City offers both a Health Care Reimbursement Account and a Dependent
Care Reimbursement Account . When you open an FSA, you must decide on how much money to be set
aside each year for that type of expense. The money is deducted from your pay before Federal Tax
Withholding and Social Security taxes. The money from your account can be reimbursed to you as you
incur eligible expenses.
Dependent Care Reimbursement Account helps pay for expenses such as day-care, nursery school or
babysitting while you're at work.
Health Care Reimbursement Account helps pay for many expenses not fully covered by your health
insurance plan.
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANT PROGRAM (EAP)
The City recognizes that personal problems and family member problems can affect work performance
and quality of life in general. In an effort to provide support and assistant to employees and (EAP)
dependents, the City provides a confidential program without cost to employees. Professional
consultations cover financial matters, family communications, stress, alcohol/drug problems, emotional
and psychological distress and legal problems. The 24 hour helpline for employees to call for EAP
assistance is 296-9436.
LEAVE
City provides Personal Leave only to employees which is an advancement from the traditional vacation
and sick leave system. Personal Leave may be utilized by employees for vacation, their own sickness, or
cashed in as specified below. Employees earn Personal Leave based upon number of years of service as
follows:
Beginning Thru Hours per Total Annual
pay period Hours
0 3 5.81 151
4 7 6.78 176
8 11 8.31 216
12 15 9.85 256
16 10.47 272
Other Employees may also be eligible for other leave such as: Bereavement, Military, Jury Duty,
etc. (See Other Leave Section)
OTHER LEAVES: The City provides employees with other types of leave with the most common
being:
Bereavement Whenever there is a death of a qualifying family member, an employee may request up to
three days bereavement leave off with full pay.
Military Employees who are required to perform military duties may be eligible for up to seventeen
days of paid military leave per year.
Civil Leave Employees who are required to attend court as a witness on behalf of the City or in
conjunction with their assigned duties with the City shall receive full pay equal to their
normal work schedule for the hours that they attend court.
Jury Duty Employees who are required to perform jury duty shall receive full pay equal to their
normal work schedule for the hours that they attend court.
Workers' The City pays 100% of the employee' s daily average earning for each day missed
Comp from the first through the seventh day. After seven days, the City will "advance" the
employee 66.67% of pay with the employee endorsing their Workers' Compensation
benefit check to the City. The Employee may also take Personal Leave to cover the time
not covered by Workers' Comp (33.33%).
LEAVE CASH IN PROGRAM
The City has a Personal Leave "Cash In"program whereby all employees select a maximum personal
leave limit that they may accrue of 120, 240, 360, 480, 600, 720, 840 or 960 hours that will best fit their
individual needs. Employee will be paid for all personal leave that exceeds their maximum limit in June,
December, or June and December of each year. Once selected, an employee's maximum personal leave
limit and cash in date(s) may be changed by the employee in December of each year. All personal leave
that exceeds the employee' s maximum personal leave limit as selected by the employee will be
automatically paid to the employee during the cash in date(s) as selected by the employee.
PENSION/RETIREMENT
The City provides employees with Social Security and a Defined Benefit retirement plan. A Defined
Benefit retirement plan is one in which the benefit that the employee will receive is fixed based upon a
formula. The City also offers an optional supplemental tax deferred retirement plan for employees.
Social Security The City participates within the Social Security program and contributes
6.2% of employee' s pay for Social Security and 1.45% of employee' s pay
for Medicare. Employees have the same amount deducted from their pay.
Pension Plan • d The City offers two Defined Benefit plans for full time employees: one for
5 c1L�•nt
general employees and one for police employees. Employee contributions to
\ar■ these plans are pre-tax and exempt from Federal tax withholding until
withdrawn upon termination of employment or retirement.
457 Plan: The City offers an optional supplemental investment plan for employees
whereby they can invest pre-tax dollars with taxes on the interest being
deferred. The plan provides employees with several investment options
which they may invest.
CITY PENSION PLANS — CONTRIBUTIONS AND BENEFIT
General Employees:
General employees contribute 3% of their salary to their Defined Benefit Plan.
If hired prior to May 1, 2005; the benefit is equal to 2.85% x Final Average Salary (FAS) x Years of
Service (YOS)
If hired on/after May 1, 2005, the benefit is equal to 2.50% x Final Average Salary (FAS) x Years of
Service (YOS)
Eligible to retire at: Age 60 with 5 YOS
Early Retirement: Age 55 with 5 YOS with a benefit reduction of 6% per year.
Police Officers:
Union Police members contribute 1% of their salary to their Defined Benefit Plan.
Benefit is equal to 3% x Final Average Salary(FAS) x Years of Service (YOS).
Eligible to retire at: Age 50 with 20 YOS, or
Age 55 with 10 YOS, or
Any age with 25 YOS, or
Age 60 with 5 YOS.
Early Retirement: Age 50 with 5 YOS with a benefit reduction of 3% per year.
DROP Plan:
Eligibility: Upon obtaining normal or early retirement eligibility (see above)
- Members may continue employment for a maximum of 5 years
- Member contributions to person plan cease
- Actuarial equivalent reduction for entering DROP prior to normal retirement age
- DROP accounts will be self directed for investment purposes
- DROP members are not eligible for death or disability benefits.
PAY
Direct Deposit: Direct deposit is required for all new employees.
Work Periods: All employees, except sworn Law Enforcement, are on a seven (7) calendar day work
period that begins on a Sunday and ends on Saturday. Law Enforcement are on a
twenty-eight(28) calendar day work period as established by the City.
Pay Periods: All employees are on a fourteen (14) calendar day, two week, pay period that begins on a
Sunday and ends on a Saturday.
Pay Days Employees are paid every two weeks no later than the Friday following the close of a
pay period. The amount of pay received will not reflect the hours worked during the pay
week, but rather the hours worked during the two week pay period immediately prior to
the pay week. Paychecks, or direct deposit summaries, are provided to the employee on
Thursdays at 4:00 P.M.
Pay Checks: The employee's pay check stub will include both current and year to date information on
pay received; deductions taken; leave and compensatory time earned/taken; federal taxes,
social security taxes, and other miscellaneous pay and/or deductions.
Increases Annual increases as decided by the City Commission during the hudget cycle or union
contract negotiations and are normally effective on October 1st of each year.
Longevity Employees receive an additional $25.00 per month per each five years of service
completed with the City in the form of Longevity Pay.
412 S ifoi
HOLIDAYS: Employees receive 10 holidays with pay.
New Year's Day January 1st
Martin Luther King's Birthday 3rd Monday in January
President's Day 3rd Monday in February
Memorial Day Last Monday in May
Independence Day July 4th
Labor Day 1st Monday in September
Thanksgiving Day 4th Thursday in November
Friday after Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Eve December 24th
Christmas Day December 25th
Any day that the City Commission may designate
F:\HR\Benefits\BENEFIT SUMMARY&links.doc