FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
CITY
HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
THURSDAY,
NOVEMBER 29, 2007
SPECIAL
MEETING
7:30
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix were present. Mr. Smith was absent due to the death of his mother. Others present were Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Ted Hackworth, Brian Wisniewski, and others.
2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:
A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting the budget for the 2008 fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008. Mr. Fix stated as the review of the budget is not complete he was not comfortable moving this forward to Council as yet. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to have this item continued on the agenda and a Special Meeting can be scheduled once the review is complete. Mrs. Hammond stated further if the Committee concurred, the Finance Committee could recess and go back into the Council Budget Work Session and complete the budget review tonight. Ms Gilleland clarified that if the review is completed this evening, Mrs. Fersch could have the final budget to Council prior to the next Council meeting. Mrs. Fersch further stated if the budget is not adopted by December 31st, it goes into effect as it is. Ms Gilleland stated the Public Hearing has been advertised for December 4th, just prior to Council. Mr. Fix clarified the Public Hearing can be readvertsied for December 18th and the budget can be on the Council agenda for December 18th if necessary. Mr. Fix stated the Committee had received several pieces of legislation tonight, and while he realized staff was working long hours to provide Council with the information, he was struggling with the idea of forwarding some of them to Council tonight. Mr. Fix inquired if there would be a problem if some of these items were carried over to the December Finance Committee agenda. Mrs. Fersch stated there would be a problem with the insurance ordinance. Mr. Fix stated some of these items have been discussed, such as the insurance and the Capital Improvements Plan. Mrs. Fersch stated the issued regarding the PERS pick up has been discussed at prior meetings as well. Mrs. Fersch further stated the Pay Plan should be approved because the first pay period of the new year begins on December 17th. Ms Gilleland stated, however, the pay can be done retroactively. Mrs. Fersch clarified the Pay Plan is always passed as an emergency because it goes forward with the budget. Mrs. Hammond stated she would hesitate to hold the Pay Play off until December 18th. Mrs. Fersch stated only one additional employee, a part time administrative assistant for the Mayor, has been added to the Pay Plan for next year.
Mrs. Hammond stated she would recommend recessing this meeting until after the budget work session is complete, and then reconvening this meeting.
The Special Finance Committee recessed at 7:50 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 8:45 P.M.
Mrs. Hammond stated as the budget review is now complete she would like to go back to item A on this agenda.
A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting the budget for the 2008 fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008. Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
B. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting an Employee Pay Plan and Authorized Strength for 2008 and declaring an emergency. Mrs. Fersch stated the Pay Plan contains one additional employee for next year, a part time administrative assistant, and the pay raise recommended by Council. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
C. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting a Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for 2008-2012. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
D. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a one-year contract with Medical Mutual of Ohio for health insurance for City employees and declaring an emergency. Mrs. Fersch distributed a comparison sheet to the Committee. She stated the same options would be offered as last year. Mrs. Fersch stated the Insurance Review Committee had met with Tony Lombardo, our Broker, and he informed them the increase this year would be 12 percent on both the Core Plan and the Buy Up Plan. Mrs. Fersch stated Mr. Lombardo also presented the option of a Health Saving Account and the Insurance Committee was very interested in this option. Mrs. Fersch stated the HSA has a deductible of $1,500 for single and $3,000 for family, with 100 percent coverage after that deductible has been met. Mrs. Fersch stated initially it was discussed to fund the account with $1,250 for single and $2,500 for family. She stated the Insurance Review Committee then recommended the City fully fund the account this year as they felt that would generate a better participation from employees. Mrs. Fersch stated the employee would still contribute seven percent of the premium cost. She stated further, if the City fully funded these accounts it would still give the greatest savings to both the City and the employee. Mrs. Fersch stated the City would fund the accounts quarterly, however, if an employee had a major health claim, after providing an explanation of benefits showing the account was low, the City would fully fund that account. Mrs. Fersch stated she was recommending this option be offered, fully funded, this year. She stated during the budget process next year it would be determined as to the amount the City would fund the account. Mrs. Hammond stated this type of account is being offered by many entities. Mrs. Fersch stated the larger number of employees who participate in this plan, the larger the savings to the City would be. Mrs. Hammond stated this plan provides a good benefit to the employee. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council, offering the four insurance options; the Core Plan, the Buy Up Plan, Waiving insurance, and the Health Savings Account funded at $1,500 for single and $3,000 for family coverage; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
E. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance for the City of Pickerington to pick-up the statutorily required contribution to the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio for the employees of the City of Pickerington pursuant to I.R.C. Section 414(H)(2). Mrs. Fersch stated this would make the amount the employee contributes to the pension fund free of federal and state taxes. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sabatino voting ‘Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
F. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the elimination of the “pick-up” by the City of Pickerington of a portion of the statutorily required contribution by the employees of the City, and to the Police and Firemen’s Pension Fund by covered employees of the City. Mrs. Fersch stated this is a companion to the previous ordinance. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
G. Review and request for motion to approve proposed amendments to the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual. Mrs. Fersch stated there were three areas she was requesting be amended in the Manual that is currently before Council. The first issue is the sell back of sick leave, and the idea is the employee can sell back at one-third of their hourly pay up to 240 hours per year, but they must keep a minimum of 480 hours on the books. Ms Gilleland stated this would provide an incentive for employees not to use sick leave when they should not. Mrs. Fersch stated the second amendment deals with the section on political activity. Ms Gilleland stated we have an employee that is a council member in Baltimore and if we go by the State statute that states employees will not be involved in partisan politics, he could not fill that elected position and be an employee of the City. Ms Gilleland stated with this revision he can continue to serve in that position, but an employee cannot be involved with Pickerington politics or anything that affects Pickerington or their employment. Mr. Sabatino stated this might discourage our employees from living in the City. Mr. Fix stated he did not feel that would be a problem because most of our employees aren’t going to run for office. He stated if someone wants to do that in another community he felt our policy should allow for that as long as it doesn’t interfere with their employment. Mrs. Fersch stated this would only affect an employee on their own candidacy. Mr. Sabatino stated there could be a situation where an employee that makes policy decisions would run for office in a neighboring community we do business with and that would create a potential conflict. Ms Gilleland stated under our current policy it would be permitted with any community that does not have a partisan Council. Mr. Fix stated he understood Mr. Sabatino’s concern about a conflict of interest, and there could be a possibility of a conflict. He stated should that situation arise, we would have to deal with that conflict at the time. Ms Gilleland stated the policy states that it must be compatible, and elected officials do from time to time have conflicts. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt some language could be added to our ethics policy to cover this. Ms Gilleland stated with this amendment, the employee that is serving on Council would be permitted to continue to do so. Mrs. Fersch stated the final amendment would be to include the City’s Public Record Policy in the Manual. Mrs. Yartin stated under House Bill 9 we are required to have employees acknowledge they have been made aware of the City’s Public Records Policy and it just seemed to make sense to add it to the manual, as everyone has to acknowledge receipt of that document. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve the proposed amendments to the Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
H. Review and discussion regarding an employee’s or public official’s appointment. Ms Gilleland stated she would request this item be removed from the agenda without discussion, as it was no longer necessary.
I. Review and discussion regarding proposed JEDD contract with Violet Township, Bloom Township, Village of Canal Winchester, City of Lancaster, and City of Pickerington. Mr. Fix stated this was on the agenda this evening so a Council Work Session could be scheduled in December. Mr. Sabatino inquired if the completed document would be available prior to the work session and Mr. Fix stated he felt it would be. Mr. Fix stated he felt it was important that everyone has a very good understanding of the document and is comfortable with it before it goes to Council for a vote sometime in January. Mr. Fix stated he was requesting Ms Gilleland, Mr. Hansley, and Mr. Hartmann to put together a presentation to address everyone’s concerns and questions. Mr. Fix stated he understood that Canal Winchester has scheduled a public hearing for January 14th, Lancaster will have a public hearing on January 14th, and he understood Violet Township was scheduling a public hearing in January as well. He stated he did not know the date Bloom Township was proposing for their public hearing. Mr. Hackworth stated he had a lot of concerns regarding the conflict of the document as far as utilities and how it conflicts with the 208 plan. Mr. Fix stated there was a request for an amendment within the past couple of days and our staff and law director need to have time to review the amendment and provide Council with their opinion as to our exposure and that it be included in their presentation at the work session. Mr. Hansley stated he understood there would be nothing in the JEDD that would supersede any existing written contract for sewer service. Mr. Sabatino clarified that the council-elect will be invited to the work session and there will be no vote taken at this work session on the 18th. Mr. Fix moved to schedule a Council Work Session for open discussion regarding the proposed JEDD contract for December 18, 2007, at 6:00 P.M.; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Mr. Fix stated if all the concerns are not addressed at this work session, a second work session could be scheduled for some time in January. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
J. Review and request for motion to set public hearing regarding proposed JEDD contract with Violet Township, Bloom Township, Village of Canal Winchester, City of Lancaster, and City of Pickerington. Mr. Fix moved to schedule a Public Hearing on the proposed JEDD contract for January 15, 2007, at 7:00 P.M.; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Finance Committee Special Meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M., November 29, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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