11-13-2013 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 13, 2013 scales will receive a step increase. Increases would be effective January 1, 2014. It was also noted that newly hired employees generally receive a 6 month increase during their first year of employment with annual increases on the calendar year going forward. However, the first annual increase may be mid -year depending on date of hire. After that, annual increases would occur at the first of the year. Blesener commented on the information provided by Ramsey County which indicates that the majority of single - family homes in Little Canada will see either no increase or a decrease in the City portion of property taxes. However, the information indicated that there are a small percentage of homes that will see a large increase. The City Administrator suggested that this may be the result of an increase in valuation of some classes of housing as well as the result of new construction values or sales data. The Administrator reviewed various employee benefits beginning with the cash benefit to employees who opt out of health insurance coverage due to the fact that they have coverage through their spouse. The Administrator indicated that the opt out benefit amount has been based on various factors over the years, including the cost of single coverage or the equivalent of half the cost of family coverage. The Administrator pointed out that providing an opt out benefit results in a savings to the City given what the City's cost would be if all full -time employees took health insurance coverage. The Administrator reported that his recommendation is that the opt out amount would increase from $535 per month to $575. He noted that this amount is higher than the cost of single health insurance coverage, but less than the half the cost of family coverage. He also noted that the opt out amount was not increased in 2013. The Administrator also pointed out that staff has looked at what other cities provide for opt out benefit comparing to all Metro cities, cities with populations plus /minus 4,300 Little Canada's population amount, and Ramsey County cities, as available in the League of MN Cities salary /benefit survey information. He noted that there is a wide range of opt out benefit amounts. He also noted that given the change in the salary survey format for this year, the participation in that survey is less than in past years so the data used for averages is less reliable. With regard to the City's participation in the cost of employee health insurance, the Administrator is recommending that the City continue to pay 100% of the cost of single coverage. He recommended that the City's level of participation in family coverage increase from $1,000 per month to $1,234. The Administrator also recommended that the employee's share of family coverage increase from $282 per month to $300 per month. The Administrator reported that the City's current health 2