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Minutes 05-14-12 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGHELD ON MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012, @ 6:00 P.M., IN THE BOYNTON BEACH CITY LIBRARY, ROOM “A”, 208 S. SEACREST BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Don Scantlan, Chair Barry Atwood, Finance Director Dennis Dougherty Tim Howard, Deputy Finance Director David Katz Terry Lonergan 1. Call to Order Chair Scantlan called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Roll call was taken. A quorum was present. Motion Mr. Katz moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Approval of March 26, 2012 Minutes 2. Motion Mr. Katz moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Chair Scantlan realized he had an item to submit to the Committee. He proposed to add it to the agenda as Item 3.5. Motion Ms. Lonergan moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Katz seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 3. Distribution and presentation by each Committee member of individual recommendations.  Copy of Recommendation Form attached  Review and vote on each recommendation 1 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL May 14, 2012 1. Overtime pay policies – Terry Lonergan Ms. Lonergan recommended flexing the work schedule to eliminate overtime. One caveat was the Police and Fire contracts prohibit it and the Blue and White Collar Unions do not have provisions for it. They had indicated to Julie Oldbury, Human Resources Director, they would tentatively agree to it over the next contract term. There would be no savings associated with flexible schedules and Ms. Oldbury felt there would be no immediate savings due to someone needing to step in to do the job when the employee was out for a few hours. There was no extra staff available to man the positions. There is very limited overtime except for Police and Fire. The recommendation was to see if they could institute flexible schedules into the contracts. It would be better if it could be done for all classes, but it was more likely to be instituted with Blue and White Collar. Ms. Lonergan explained for a full-time worker, if they worked 50 hours one week, would work 30 hours the next. There was discussion about the Fair Labor Standards Act which would require any hours over 40 hours to be paid as overtime. A suggestion was also made to put employees on straight salaries which would eliminate overtime. Chair Scantlan disagreed and commented salaried employees had to have certain responsibilities. The current issue was there was no allowance for it under any of the bargaining unit agreements. Some general employees work a flexible schedule within the same week and there was some discussion it could be considered comp time. It was also noted there have been some issues with the work week versus the pay period. Staff, however, wanted to see it in the contract so management could work with it. Chair Scantlan recommended an amendment to the recommendation to negotiate flexible schedules into the upcoming Blue and White Collar Collective Bargaining Agreements and this language be added to the top of the Recommendation Sheet. Chair Scantlan called for a vote on the amendment. The vote was 4-0. 2. Non-compensation staff benefits – Terry Lonergan Ms. Lonergan commented she was awaiting some information, but did not get anything specific as far as the definition of non-compensation. She was aware City staff was allowed to participate in Boynton Beach activities at the resident rate, regardless of whether they live in the City, but anything over $100 that was given to an employee had to be reported to the Commission on Ethics. After brief discussion, it was unknown if the $100 was cumulative or per activity. It was thought, however, it pertained to activities the City sponsored. Ms. Lonergan was still waiting for information on cell phones and cars as to who has them and why. She also inquired who does the vehicle maintenance and learned it was 2 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL May 14, 2012 done in-house unless it was a major project. Mr. Katz also indicated sometimes the big trucks are sent out for repair. She felt there was no savings to be found on the issue and thought employees should be able to continue to participate in City activities. The status quo would remain. Chair Scantlan called for a vote on the recommendation. The vote was 4-0. 3. Unpaid Furlough Days – Terry Lonergan Ms. Lonergan explained the City has 11 paid holidays. Ms. Oldbury had indicated to her that if every City employee, including Fire and Police took two days unpaid, the City could save $187,000 per year. Ms. Oldbury proposed cutting Presidents Day and a second holiday. Brief discussion followed this was actually a pay cut and the members contemplated Police and Fire still have to provide services. It was suggested if taking a furlough day, they take a furlough day on a holiday. This item was something the City Commission considered last year. Mr. Katz noted it would be more palatable to have employees contribute more to their pensions because although it was a cut, the employee received a benefit for it when they retired. Chair Scantlan commented if an employee had to take a day off, the next day they had to work twice as hard. He noted if City services were shut down two days, it reduced the Gross Domestic Product by two days. It was suggested language be added to negotiate the furlough days and that the two furlough days would be attached to two of the existing 11 holidays. It was further clarified the recommendation was not to reduce the number of holidays from 11 to 9, as the employee would get 11 days off. They would just not be paid for two of them. Discussion followed furloughs would not affect salaried employees, and not all salaried employees were contract employees. It was also thought this could put a burden on hourly employees. Salaried employees are paid for a year’s worth of service. Holidays could be taken away, but one cannot have their pay docked for not coming to work one day. Leave pay could be docked, but if an employee had no leave time accrued, there was no leave time to dock. Mr. Howard explained there was a method to implement this for salaried employees because other municipalities have done it. In Broward County, the salaried employees signed an agreement. In Boynton Beach, an amendment could be added to the contract. There have been various methods to accomplish this and some have attached it to holidays for various reasons. It was suggested the FAC move forward with the recommendation and at the workshop, explain the concerns or include it in the recommendation for all classes of employees. The recommendation was two furlough days for all classes of employees in every 3 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL May 14, 2012 department. Mr. Katz thought it was not the function of the FAC to get into the minutia of what was permissible. The City Commission would make a decision and the attorney advise whether it could or could not be done. Chair Scantlan called for a vote on the recommendation. The vote was 2 – 2 with Chair Scantlan and Mr. Dougherty dissenting. 4. City Commission salaries and benefits – Terry Lonergan Ms. Lonergan went to Human Resources and received a listing of what City employees earned and obtained the same list from Delray Beach to compare. She noted Boynton’s list did not contain the salaries of the City Commissioners, but noted an article in the paper indicated they have a $7,000 expense account. She thought the expense account was not necessary. The money should be added to the salary or the expenses accounted for. Currently, Commissioners receive about $600 per month and earn $6,000 more in salary than their Delray counterparts. Mr. Katz recalled he received an expense check when he was a Commissioner which he treated as income. He noted the work he did as a Commissioner years ago was not any less than what the Commissioners do today and if anyone had an expense, they should turn in receipts. A suggestion was made to lower the salaries of the City Commission to be reflective of those in Delray Beach. Dialogue followed Boynton Beach was the third largest city in the County and Delray Beach was the fourth. Additionally, it was believed the salary was set forth in the Charter; however, the City Commission voted themselves a raise and could do so whenever they wanted. The only provision contained in the Charter was the COLA. Mr. Atwood explained the City Commission has, according to the IRS, an Unaccountable Expense Allowance. It was acknowledged there were many functions attended by the City Commissioners, but they do not pay to attend Chamber of or Community Redevelopment Agency events. There was agreement expenses would be paid on a receipt based, reimbursement basis. It was also recommended the statement made by the former Mayor be removed from the recommendation. Chair Scantlan called for a vote on the recommendation. The vote was 4-0. 5. City Survey Chair Scantlan distributed the results of the City survey to the members. He recommended the members review it at home and be voted on at the next meeting. He would summarize to the Commission what the responses were and how many people responded. 4 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL May 14, 2012 There was discussion the next meeting was May 21st. Chair Scantlan commented the Committee has two meetings to wrap up the recommendations. Last year, he drafted an executive summary, but there may not be time to do so. Another option was Mr. Atwood could distribute the executive summary to the members with comments due back later that week and incorporated. There would be a meeting on May 21, 2012, and then no other meeting until the budget workshop. The Committee recessed at 6:57 p.m. and reconvened at 6:59 p.m. 4. Update by Committee members regarding progress to date of their Assignment Areas  Updated list of Assignment Areas attached Ms. Lonergan advised she had two more assignments she hoped to finish by the end of next week. These items were compensation benefit analysis and employee benefit analysis. Mr. Katz anticipated he would have his recommendations completed by the next meeting, which were Pensions, take home cars and cell phones. Mr. Dougherty was assigned the Capital Improvement Plan Analysis, but did not understand what would come out of it, other than his observation it would push items out into future years. He noted the CIP could be a seven-year plan. Chair Scantlan commented he should make a recommendation, why he made it and what sources he contacted to research the item. He commented the League of Cities did not forward any major legislation as it pertained to his next item, The Impact of New Legislation, but he would have a recommendation. He would also make a recommendation on the Public Safety Item. 5. Discuss necessary deadlines for individual assignment recommendations and Committee voting in order for the Chair to summarize and submit to the City Commission.  The recommended City budget for all funds will be transmitted to the City Commission during the week of July 2-5. This item was discussed earlier in the meeting. 6. Adjournment There was no further business to discuss. 5 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL May 14, 2012 Motion Mr. Katz moved to adjourn. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:11 p.m. Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 051512 6