The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA REPORT 2004 0901 CC REG ITEM 09CTO: FROM: MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Honorable City Council ITEM- CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting Of 9-/- d4904 AC1rION:44 anti . Ce " ill': ,,,4-/1- Steven Kueny, City Manager — Prepared by Deborah S. Traffenstedt, ATCM /City Clerk JD5 DATE: August 26, 2004 (CC Meeting of 9/1/04) SUBJECT: Consider Adjustment to Moorpark City Council Compensation and Benefits BACKGROUND Compensation for the Moorpark City Council was last adjusted in 1990. Presently, the Moorpark City Council receives $300.00 per month, which is consistent with Government Code Section 36516 for a city up to and including 35,000 population. The Moorpark City Council also receives the federally mandated retirement contribution, which is in lieu of Social Security. The City currently pays 7.5% retirement compensation to the City Council, which is the same contribution paid to the City's part -time employees. The referenced Government Code allows the City Council compensation to be increased by up to 5% for each year from the operative date of the last adjustment. This would be as high as $623.68 effective December 2004 (14 years since the last adjustment in December 1990) . In addition, when acting as the Redevelopment Agency, the Moorpark City Council may receive $30.00 per meeting with a maximum of $120.00 per month. DISCUSSION Moorpark's population was 34,887 as of January 1, 2004 (California Department of Finance population estimate), and the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 -05 budget totals $43,861,445. The following table shows a comparison of city council compensation, population, and annual budget for nearby cities within the same population range of less than 35,000 residents. 00014'7 Honorable City Council September 1, 2004, Regular Meeting Page 2 Agency Agoura Hills Calabasas Malibu Port Hueneme Santa Paula Compensation $300.00 $465.00 $300.00 $682.00 $300.00 Population* 22,150 22,900 13,550 22,137 29,121 FY 2004 -05 Budget ** $21,675,432.00 $41,200,000.00 $21,368,492.00 $31,299,735.00 $20,863,881.00 * California Department of Finance 1/1/2004. ** Including capital improvement projects but not including Redevelopment Agency budget. Many cities, special districts, and school districts also provide selected benefits to their elected officials, such as participation in retirement and health /life insurance programs. The following is a survey of several cities and the Moorpark Unified School District (MUSD) Board of Education: * Deferred compensation only ** PERS Retirement and deferred compensation * ** As a cafeteria plan - amounts vary from $626 to $908 per month * * ** Social Security only If the Moorpark City Council is interested in initiating health (medical, dental, and vision) and life insurance benefits, it's recommended that the Council's insurance program be the same as the program approved for the competitive service regular full - time positions (medical program beginning January 1, 2005). Excerpts from the competitive service employee benefit program are as follows: ')0®,! 48 Ca1PERS Agency Retirement Medical Dental Vision Life (Amount) MOORPARK NO* NO NO NO NO Agoura Hills No Yes Yes No No Calabasas Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ($50,000) Camarillo Yes ** Yes * ** Yes Yes Yes ($50,000) Fillmore No No No No No Ojai Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ($20,000) Oxnard Yes Yes * ** Yes Yes Yes (unknown) Port Hueneme Yes ** Yes Yes Yes No Santa Paula No* Yes * ** Yes * ** No No Simi Valley Yes ** Yes Yes Yes Yes($151,000) Thousand Oaks Yes Yes Yes Yes No Ventura No * * ** Yes Yes Yes No Westlake Village Yes No No No No MUSD No Yes Yes Yes No * Deferred compensation only ** PERS Retirement and deferred compensation * ** As a cafeteria plan - amounts vary from $626 to $908 per month * * ** Social Security only If the Moorpark City Council is interested in initiating health (medical, dental, and vision) and life insurance benefits, it's recommended that the Council's insurance program be the same as the program approved for the competitive service regular full - time positions (medical program beginning January 1, 2005). Excerpts from the competitive service employee benefit program are as follows: ')0®,! 48 Honorable City Council September 1, 2004, Regular Meeting Page 3 A. Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance: City shall continue to pay one hundred percent (100 %) of premiums for full -time employee and eligible dependents' coverage for the dental, life, and vision insurance programs. (Currently the City provides a $25,000 life insurance policy for each competitive service employee as well as $5,000 for a spouse and $2,000 for dependent children up to age 23.) B. Medical Insurance: January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2005, Medical Insurance Cafeteria Plan: This section shall be valid beginning January 1, 2005, at which time a cafeteria plan will be implemented for medical insurance. The City's contribution for each employee shall consist of a medical insurance allowance of up to a maximum of $908.00, which is intended to fully pay the family rate for the lowest cost CalPERS medical insurance Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan, and such contribution shall be inclusive of the minimum CalPERS medical insurance payment amount as specified in Section 22825 of the Government Code ($48.40 in calendar year 2005) . The medical insurance cafeteria plan contribution is intended to pay for medical insurance for the employee and eligible dependents; however, an employee may convert up to a maximum of $275.00 of the medical insurance cafeteria plan allowance to cash or a deferred compensation payment each month, if not used for payment of CalPERS medical insurance costs for employee and /or eligible dependents. The Moorpark City Council retirement program can also be amended to be the same as that provided to full -time competitive service employees. Presently, the City Council receives the same retirement contribution as a part -time employee, and the part - time program is actually a form of deferred compensation paid by the City. If this is modified, the Moorpark City Council could participate in the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and receive service credit in a similar manner as participating City employees. For CalPERS retirement, the City currently pays both the employee as well as City share, which is currently about 15% of salary (7% employee and 8% City contributions). The City amount varies and is expected to decline in future years as CalPERS recovers from stock market losses on its investments. As recently as 2001, the City's share of retirement was 0% based on current and prior year earnings and City's actuarial projections. For CalPERS retirement purposes, the City Council qualifies as an "optional" member under Section 20322 of the Government Code. The retirement benefit received would be based on the established percentage of 000149 Honorable City Council September 1, 2004, Regular Meeting Page 4 total compensation paid (does not include reimbursement of expenses). Any changes to amend the $300 per month City Council compensation by an amount not exceeding 5% per calendar since 1990 must be adopted by an ordinance pursuant to Section 36516 of the Government Code. If the Council determines to proceed with an ordinance to increase monthly compensation, staff recommends that first reading of the ordinance be scheduled for September 15 with second reading and adoption on October 6, in order to have the ordinance take effect prior to certification of the November 2004 election results and have the change in compensation apply during the next term of office (pursuant to Section 36516.5 of the Government Code). Any amounts paid by a city for retirement, health and welfare are not included for the purposes of determining salary compensation under Section 36516, provided the same benefits are available and paid by the city for its employees. If the Council approves retirement, health and life insurance benefits for the City Council consistent with that provided to the City's competitive service employees, the recommended effective date for the insurance should be January 1, 2005, and the retirement benefit would go into effective the pay period following adoption of a City Council resolution and completion of the required CalPERS election of Optional Membership form. If directed, staff would prepare the CalPERS retirement resolution for the September 15, 2004, regular meeting. Total estimated maximum costs for City Council insurance benefits that are consistent with that provided to competitive service employees are as follows, based on the January 1, 2005, cafeteria plan for medical insurance and the current rates for employee plus family for dental, vision and life insurance (please note that dental, vision, and life insurance rates have a renewal date of January 1 and may be higher): Medical 5 x $ 908.00 Dental 5 x $ 134.41 Vision 5 x $ 20.70 Life 5 x $ 9.01 $1,072.12 (maximum insurance cost based on current known rates) Honorable City Council September 1, 2004, Regular Meeting Page 5 For discussion purposes, other alternatives offering limited versions of benefits already received by competitive service employees are presented below: 1. City Councilmember only medical insurance, no dependents, no cash back, and specify not to exceed lowest -cost Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan; no dental, vision and life insurance: $344.12. 2. City Councilmember only medical insurance, no dependents, no cash back, and specify not to exceed lowest -cost Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan; and dental, vision and life insurance for City Councilmember, no dependents: $344.12 + $42.19 + $8.00 + $7.50 = $401.81. 3. City Councilmember and dependents medical insurance, specify not to exceed lowest cost PPO plan, and no cash back; and dental, vision and life insurance for City Councilmember and dependents: $344.12 + $134.41 + $20.70 + $9.51 = $508.74 (family rate). 4. Other combinations of the employee benefit plans. STAFF RECObMNDATION Direct staff as deemed appropriate. �AA 51