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MINUTES <br />CITY COUNCIL <br />OCTOBER 9, 2013 <br />Morelan indicated that the Fire Relief Benefit is both a recruitment and <br />retention tool for the Fire Department. 1-Ie indicated that the Fire <br />Department would like to see inflationary benefit level increases each <br />year. <br />There was discussion about the pension levels that other fire departments <br />are providing. Liebel commented that the Fire Department is not asking <br />the City to match those levels, but merely to stay competitive. Montour <br />indicated that the City would not be able to compete with cities the size of <br />Roseville or Maplewood. <br />Morelan indicated that the current benefit level is $3,200 per year of <br />service, and indicated that it is close to or a little below what surrounding <br />volunteer fire departments are getting. Morelan again indicated that the <br />goal would be to keep up with inflation, and pointed out that the only <br />revenue level that can be adjusted is the City's contribution level. <br />McGraw pointed out that when there is not ability to control the biggest <br />revenue stream, investment returns; there really is no control. Blesener <br />suggested a $5,000 reduction in the amount of spending for special events, <br />with that reduction then being directed toward the pension fund as an <br />increase in the City's voluntary contribution. Liebel pointed out that a <br />$5,000 increase in the City's voluntary contribution from $15,000 to <br />$20,000 is not too far off the $24,500 annual average that he calculated. <br />Blesener stated that he could not see doubling the City's voluntary <br />contribution from $15,000 to $31,000 as is being requested by the Fire <br />Department. <br />There was discussion about downturns in the stock market and the fact <br />that the City is obligated to provide the financial report need for the <br />approved pension benefit. The Administrator pointed out that a few years <br />ago the City and the Fire Department had agreed to a guideline that would <br />support pension increases of $25 to $50 per year, but market downturns <br />limited that ability. He suggested that City staff do some projects to <br />estimate the amount of City financial support needed to provide for <br />inflationary increases over a period of time. That information will then be <br />reviewed by the Council and Fire Department as part of finalizing the <br />2014 Budget. <br />Blesener asked that the Department look at their budget line item for <br />special events to determine if there can be a decrease in this line item. <br />Blesener suggested that there be further discussion on this matter as part of <br />the 2014 Budget process. <br />5 <br />