Laserfiche WebLink
Item No: 8.D <br />Meeting Date: January 24, 2005 <br />Type of Business: Consent Agenda <br />City Administrator Review: ________ <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From: Charles Hansen, Finance Director <br />Item Title/Subject: Resolution 6443 Supporting Legislation Permitting Certain <br />Employees of Blaine, Spring Lake Park, and Mounds View <br />to Become Members of the Public Employees Retirement <br />Association Police and Fire Plan <br /> <br />The Spring Lake Park / Blaine / Mounds View Fire Department has requested that the <br />Minnesota Legislature pass bills that will allow regular city employees who are also members <br />of the fire department to be eligible to participate in the PERA Police and Fire Fund instead <br />of the PERA Coordinated Fund. <br /> <br />Senator Betzold has introduced the legislation as Senate File SF0235 and it will be <br />introduced in the House of Representatives, but I don’t have the author or file number yet. <br /> <br />The need for this legislation arises from the increasing difficulty the fire department is having <br />in recruiting and retaining daytime firefighters. Persons employed by private companies are <br />frequently out of the area during the day or their employers are reluctant to allow them to <br />leave repeatedly during the job shift to fight fires. Persons who are already employed by the <br />three cities in other departments are a prime source of firefighters <br /> <br />Since they are already city employees, they are most likely enrolled in the PERA <br />Coordinated Fund. Allowing these persons to enroll in the PERA Police and Fire Fund <br />instead will make serving as a volunteer firefighter more appealing. <br /> <br />The fire department is currently foreseeing a need in the future to hire full time employees to <br />cover daytime hours. This will be a very expensive undertaking. Encouraging other city <br />employees to join the fire department will postpone the need to hire full time employees. <br /> <br />The attached resolution expresses the City of Mounds View’s support for the proposed <br />legislation. <br /> <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> <br />________________________ <br />Charles Hansen, Finance Director <br />