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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/26/1993 City Council00488, MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON August 26, 1993 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:30 p.m. on the 26th day of August, 1993 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Councilman Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Joe Agnew, Councilman Present Tom Bogan, Councilman Present John Dillard, Councilman Present Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tem Absent and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1993-94 Mayor Manning opened the meeting by stating the Personnel Committee had met on Tuesday, and asked Margaret Burkett, Personnel Director to go over the items that had been discussed by the committee. MEDICAL AND DENTAL INSURANCE COVERAGE Ms. Burkett advised that TML rates for health coverage are remaining the same, noting that $220.00 per employee had been budgeted, anticipating an increase. Since they are the same, the amount budgeted will decrease to $180.00 per employee. Ms. Burkett did state that our dental insurance with Jefferson Pilot will increase 25%, advising the company has offered us another plan for the same premium as this past year, but the coverage is not as good. She said TML has offered us the same coverage as the Jefferson Pilot alternative for less money. Ms. Burkett said staff recommendation is to renew coverage with TML including dental coverage for the next fiscal year. Councilman Dillard noted that an employee pays $278.00 per month for family coverage and $87.00 per month for children only. He said we need to look at what we are doing for our employees. TMRS MILITARY SERVICE BUY BACK Ms. Burkett said TMRS allows employees to get 5 years worth of retirement credit for military service if they have been a member of TMRS for at least 10 years. She stated the proposal is that the city pay 2/3 of the amount and the employee pay 1/3, i.e., if the ~-. 2 004885 total is $2400.00, the city would pay $1800.00 and the employee would pay $600.00. Mayor Manning noted that we need to request they have an honorable discharge. Councilman Agnew asked if the city can require the employee to have worked for us for 5 years before applying for this credit. Ms. Burkett said she would check the regulations with TMRS. Councilman Pollard suggested the city match the number of years the employee has been with us. SICK LEAVE POLICY Councilman Dillard said this item came up during the interviews for police chief, noting that in other cities, employees are paid for all or a portion of their accumulated sick time when they leave employment. He said the committee hopes this will be an incentive for people to come to work instead of taking sick time, when it may not be a real necessity. Councilman Pollard also noted this could cut down on overtime for those people coming in to cover for those out sick. Councilman Agnew said he doesn't like bribing people to come to work and wants to see a limit, because people will build up their sick time, just to get paid for it when they leave. Bill Hall said that sick time is not widely abused, noting that 3 years ago, we implemented a sick leave pool, whereby those employees with a lot of sick time can donate up to 24 hours per year to the pool. Those employees who have none can draw from the pool if their situation qualifies. Councilman Dillard said other cities pay for sick time and we need to complete. Mayor Manning noted that not many employees would qualify so the impact on the budget would be minimal. Councilman Lynch suggested paying 1/2 of the time and giving the other 1/2 to the pool. Councilman Agnew asked staff to equate the number of employees to a dollar amount. There was general agreement to implement the benefit using the 5 year plan, pending financial impact. SALARIES Mayor Manning explained that two surveys are available for review. One is among cities comparable to The Colony in population and the other is among cities to whom we have lost employees. The Personnel Committee reviewed staff recommendations to bring certain positions in line with other cities, and made their own recommendations. Another staff recommendation is to eliminate the step pay plan and implement a merit pay plan, by giving an across the board cost of living raise this year and then implementing the merit plan next year. Mayor Manning said the committee agreed with the 3% across the board cost of living, but recommended postponing it until January 1994. Councilman Dillard noted that we have lost some good police officers for better pay, and went on to say we don't want to become a training ground again. Councilman Agnew said we should not eliminate the step plan without having another plan in place, going on to say it is not fair to the employees because they have just gone one year with indecision. Councilman Pollard said there is a plan, stating next year's 0048 u raises will be based on merit and financial availability. Councilman Bogan suggested leaving the step plan in place, and giving the top step employees an increase. Mayor Manning said he believes the 3% will give more money overall. Councilman Dillard said this year was not one of indecision, noting that many fiscal decisions were made, but he said it will take time to get a merit plan in place and train employees in how it functions. Councilman Lynch said the 3% across the board, effective in January 1994, is good, with evaluations in February 1994 to implement the merit in the last quarter of the 1993-94 year. Bill Hall advised that the plan is to eliminate the step plan in administration only, not public safety, noting that the public safety plan was slowed down last year. Councilman Lynch and Councilman Agnew said that is where most of the money is spent and that the plan needs to be slowed down. Mayor Manning cautioned about going backwards. Councilman Lynch said according to the survey, police and fire personnel are above average. Councilman Dillard suggested the committee meet again to discuss public safety. Councilman Lynch said if the public safety pay plan is slowed down there would be enough money to fund the raises in the other departments. Councilman Agnew requested a report of the difference between the step plan and the 3% across the board increases. Mayor Manning then gave the council information regarding adjustments to certain positions which would bring those positions in line with other cities, noting that other employees who are already in line would receive the 3% increase. Discussion followed regarding staff recommendations versus committee recommendations. Mayor Manning said the intent is to give increases without impacting the budget too heavily. General discussion followed. Council requested Version 5 revenues by Friday evening. Councilman Lynch noted that it appears gasoline is being paid for twice and would like changes made to the format which will clarify that line item. Mayor Manning told the council an agreement needs to be reached regarding the 3% across the board and/or the step pay plan. He said there is a meeting next Monday and directed staff to prepare the figures for each plan for review, suggesting that the employees hired in the last 3 months be pulled out to see if they need to be addressed separately. Still left to be reviewed are revenues, programs and capitals. Councilman Dillard asked for information regarding the D.A.R.E. officer and the School Resource officer by Monday evening. Bill Hall noted that county funding for the Library will be the same this year as it was the last year. With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. APPROVED: ~'illiam W Manning, Mayo~- - ~ ATI'EST: 4 00489i Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, CMC/AAE City Secretary