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Minute for the Finance Committee meeting on September 15, 2005.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, September 15, 2005
4:00 p.m. - City Council Conference Room - Huntington Building
Members Present: Alec Farmer, Jim Hargis, John Street and Harold Perrin. Ann Williams arrived late. Other present were: City Clerk Donna Jackson, staff and media. Darrel Dover and Mayor Formon were not in attendance.
MINUTES
Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Street for the approval of the minutes for August 18, 2005, as provided. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all those in attendance.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
PENDING: Ordinance changing non-uniform employees pension multiplier to 1.75%: Ms. Suzanne Hackney explained the employee committee had questioned the pension multiplier of the City’s non-uniform employees. The pension multiplier for non-uniform employees is lower than other pensioned departments in the city and the employee committee would like to increase the multiplier from 1.5% to 1.75%. Questions were raised about the amount of money that would cost the city and whether this should be figured into the budget process. Mr. Larry Flowers said the increase would be approximately $125,000, which would possibly be offset by increased interest earnings into the plan. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Hargis to table the ordinance to further discuss cost with Mayor Formon and Mr. Flowers. All voted aye. Ms. Hackney also asked the committee to consider the pension multiplier of the Fire Department and Police Department with that of the City.
PENDING: Resolution increasing employee vacation from 3 to 4 weeks after 15 years of service: Ms. Hackney explained the employee committee is also questioning the employee vacation rate for employees who have been with the City 15 years and more. Ms. Hackney compared the current vacation policy for the City of Jonesboro with various other businesses in Jonesboro. City of Jonesboro is behind with the amount of vacation that it gives to people who have been employed by the City for more than 15 years. Questions were raised regarding how many current employees this would affect and how much it would cost. Councilman Perrin asked to table the resolution until the full of impact of adding another week of vacation can be looked into.
Resolution amending Fire Department sick leave policy to reflect state law: Ms. Hackney explained the current sick leave policy with the Fire Department is not up to date with what is required by state law. Councilman Street moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to recommend the resolution to full council. All voted aye.
Ordinance waiving competitive bidding for fire smoke trailer: Fire Department Chief Aaron Keller informed the committee that only one company builds the smoke trailer that the department would like to purchase. Assistant Fire Chief Leonard Jadrich questioned applying for fire grants. It was explained that fire grant application periods are opened with short notice and only last 30 days. The committee informed Assistant Chief Jadrich they didn’t see any problem with applying for fire grants since applying doesn’t commit the city to any obligation. Chief Keller further explained the funding has already been approved for the smoke trailer through the 70/30 grant, but he wanted to waive the bid process since there is only one company who makes the trailers. Councilman Hargis moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to recommend the ordinance to full council. All voted aye.
TREASURER’S OFFICE
PENDING: APERMA/AML property insurance update: Mr. Brian Wadley explained he met with APERMA last week and is in the process of scheduling a meeting with AML.
HUMAN RESOURCES
PENDING: Procedure for disposal of deceased employee’s final check: Ms. Hackney met with Mr. Phillip Crego, City Attorney, and he indicated that the only way for a deceased employee’s family to receive that person’s last check is either through probate or affidavit for collection of small estate. It was questioned whether the HR department could have copies of the application for collection of small estate available in the office to make the process easier for the family. Ms. Hackney was unsure whether she could do that, but stated she would look into it.
PENDING: Grant’s Coordinator position: The position has been advertised in several places with two candidates responding, one within the city and one outside of the city. The position application period will close on September 19. Ms. Hackney explained that currently a part time employee is handling the responsibilities of the position and is working at a full time rate, including incurring overtime. Ms. Hackney is recommending doing away with the proposed raise in pay grade and just filling the position as described in the original ordinance, Ordinance 3530.
Insurance quotes for pension plan: It had been discussed in the past whether bundling life insurance with the City’s current medical plan would save the City money. Ms. Hackney received quotes from several companies and found it would not in the City’s best interest to bundle the packages together at this time. It was further explained that the age of the City of Jonesboro’s employees was a factor in the quotes received. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Hargis to accept Town & Country’s life insurance quote until the end of the year. All voted aye. It was further recommended that the City look into bundling the packages together at the end of the year. It was explained that the life insurance would be for all vested, non-uniform employees.
PENDING: Additional supplemental insurance products: Ms. Hackney informed the committee she had been approached by several companies about adding to the City’s supplemental insurance benefits. Currently, the City offers short term disability, long term disability and critical care supplemental insurance. It was recommended to leave the supplemental insurance as is until the budget process is done.
PENDING: Medical and dental bids: Ms. Hackney explained she is expecting the information late next week so she can send out bids starting October 1. The companies will have 30 days to make their bids and then the City will have November to make a decision as to who to go with. Questions were raised regarding whether 30 days is long enough for companies to get their information together to make bids. It was decided to give the companies six weeks to make their bids.
PENDING: City Planner position update: The position has been advertised in several places and will close on September 23. Currently, 13 applications have been received.
PENDING: Transit Coordinator update: The position has been advertised in several different places and will close on September 16. So far, 7 applications have been received.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
PENDING: Financial software update: Mr. Alan Young informed the committee that an on-site trainer has been on hand to help with the building permits module. That department should be ready to make the switch. Next week, an on-site trainer will be available for five days to answer questions from the Finance department. It was questioned whether Mr. Flowers’ absence next week would affect the training. Mr. Flowers indicated that he didn’t think there would be a problem. It was also questioned whether the financial reports would be more current with the new software in place. Mr. Flowers explained that with the current process of making the reports, the software could possibly speed things up.
PENDING: Summary of report: Mr. Young sent out a summary earlier in the week. Mr. Young indicated the Fleet program would be available in November with training soon after.
ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Resignation of Director and status: It was recommended to not hire anyone for the position until Mr. Ralph Ohm’s can look the situation over in case of a lawsuit against the city. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Street to hold hiring for the position until Mr. Ohm says it’s okay. All voted aye. It was also discussed that before someone is hired for the position, the City should rethink what the position is supposed to do to make the position more effective what the position was expected to accomplish.
CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
PENDING: Proposed changes to the Jonesboro Code Book: Ms. Donna Jackson indicated that she will be sending the proposed changes to the City Council as well as the department heads for review. The recommendations were made by the Municipal League and reflect the codes current up to the time the information was sent in, so the City may be one year behind already. Ms. Jackson also indicated for future updates, other options are being looked at other than the Municipal League.
OTHER
Finance Chairman: Chairman Farmer informed the committee that he will no longer be presiding as chairman. Councilman Street nominated, seconded by Councilman Hargis for Councilman Perrin to be the new chairman. All voted aye with Councilman Perrin choosing to abstain from voting.
Questions were raised concerning a special meeting. A special meeting has been called for Friday, September 16, 2005, at 3:30 p.m. in the Huntington Building to discuss the resignation of Dr. Paul Copeland, hiring a replacement for Dr. Copeland and the status of the Transit System.
Discussion took place regarding the policies, procedures and practices the City currently has regarding the hiring and firing of employees. It was recommended that the City look over the current policies in order to prevent future problems and tie those policies into the employee handbook.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Hargis moved, seconded by Councilman Street to adjourn the meeting. All voted aye.