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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 7, 2018 <br />DRAFT <br /> 8 <br /> 304 <br />Council Member Maher argued that the cost is higher to change. It is taxpayer money. 305 <br /> 306 <br />Council Member Stoesz suggested that a change in services occasionally is healthy. 307 <br /> 308 <br />Administrator Karlson will contact the Rupp firm. He recommends that the firm be asked 309 <br />to provide services with no increase in fees for three years. There would be an 310 <br />engagement letter forwarded to the council in the future. 311 <br />12. Council Compensation – Administrator Karlson explained that the subject of 312 <br />council compensation came up recently, specifically review of the payments for special 313 <br />meetings. He has since taken a look at the regular salary for this City’s council members 314 <br />and mayor in comparison with other councils. The City is quite a bit below the average. 315 <br />He explained that, if council decided to change their compensation plan, that could not be 316 <br />effective until after the next municipal election. In the area of special meeting 317 <br />compensation, there is also an outstanding question about whether or not the Board of 318 <br />Appeal and Canvassing Board should be paid separately from the special meetings. If 319 <br />they are considered separate from the regular special council sessions, they could be 320 <br />identified as such by ordinance and a rate of special payment established. There is already 321 <br />a policy in place to provide for extra compensation for EDA meetings. Mayor Reinert 322 <br />said it’s clear to him – it’s different when the council isn’t acting in their actual role of 323 <br />council member 324 <br /> 325 <br />The history of when special meeting compensation was established by the council was 326 <br />discussed. The last time that language was amended was 1997 and it established a four 327 <br />meeting per month maximum compensation policy. 328 <br /> 329 <br />Finance Director Cotton noted that, for payroll purposes, how special compensation will 330 <br />be handled must be very clear. For those meetings determined to be outside of regular 331 <br />special council sessions but for which there will be compensation above the regular 332 <br />maximum four special meetings per month, there should be approved language in 333 <br />ordinance form authorizing payment and how much. 334 <br /> 335 <br />Administrator Karlson explained that in 1991, by ordinance, the council’s special 336 <br />compensation was limited to two meetings per month; within that ordinance there was 337 <br />also language clarifying that meetings that were held on the same night as a council 338 <br />meeting would not be considered special. In 1997, the language was changed to allow up 339 <br />to four special meetings but didn’t include any language on the matter of special meetings 340 <br />on a regular council day. Going forward, the practice of not paying for special meetings 341 <br />on regular council days continued. In 2014, at the request of a council member, he 342 <br />reviewed the language and the policy going forward changed to payment for any special 343 <br />meeting (maximum four per month) even on regular council days. 344 <br /> 345 <br />Council Member Stoesz suggested that the requirement to sign a voucher (paper) should 346 <br />be updated to allow for verification of attendance by the minutes; also that a presence at 347