CCP 08-13-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 22, 2014 Page 4 of 7 50 years and having served for at least 10 years. Staff reviewed the history of the Public Safety Department along with the previous "hand shake" agreement for the fire fighters. City Manager Lotter explained that the Council has proposed that the annual levy contribution amount may not need to occur every year. As mentioned previously, when the Fire Relief was changed from a monthly benefit to a lump -sum benefit, the Fund was depleted of assets to a sever degree. The Relief Fund was underfunded to a level below 75 %. Currently, the Fire Relief Fund has performed extremely well. The fund at the end of fiscal year 2013 was funded at a rate of 122 %. Since the Fire Relief Fund was at a healthy level, the Council has questioned whether a municipal contribution should continue to be provided annually. The City Manager recommended that the Council continue to budget the amount of $46,200 into the budget every year. These funds could be redirected if the money wasn't required in the Relief Fund. He recommended that going forward, the Council continue to receive financial information regarding the health of the fund and a copy of the audit report. In addition, the Council should continue to budget a yearly contribution of $46,200. If the Fire Relief Fund was funded by an amount over 100% or better, and no municipal contribution was required, this money shall be redirected to the Community Reinvestment Fund. Regarding the annual benefit, staff recommended that an annual increase to the individual benefit of $500 per year be approved for 2014. There will be no benefit increase requested in 2015. Moving forward, the Fire Relief annual benefit will be increased by $200 with Council approval. A forecasted model of how these changes would impact the Fire Relief Fund was reviewed in detail with the Council. Staff respectfully requested the Council consider approval of a Resolution that would continue the $46,200 contribution annually to the Fire Relief Fund which will be required if the fund was under 100% but will be directed to the Community Reinvestment Fund if the fund was over 100 %. In addition, the Resolution also approves an increase of $500 to the annual benefit for 2014 and no increase in 2015. Councilmember Jacobsen asked if firefighters that retired before the age of 50 could receive a benefit after 10 years of service. City Manager Lotter indicated firefighters under the age of 50 would have to wait to receive their payout until age 50. Councilmember Burg explained he met with City Manager Lotter prior to this meeting to address her questions and requested the different payout scenarios. She thanked staff for the thorough report presented this evening. Councilmember Bauman discussed Relief Associations in Minnesota noting 84 were lump sum and only nine were paid higher than New Brighton's. She credited the Fire Division for their exemplary service to the community but did not support the proposed 9% pay increase. She explained the average pay increase in the metro area was 1.6 1/o. She expressed concern with lump sum pensions and how these were bankrupting communities. She reviewed the amounts received by other departments and believed that the current yearly benefits were fair. She explained she would not be able to support the proposed benefit increases. Councilmember Jacobsen appreciated the homework completed by Councilmember Bauman. He clarified that pensions in St. Anthony differed from New Brighton due to the fact they had more full -time firefighters. He believed that the City's volunteer Fire Division model was working well, that service was excellent and response times were low. It was his opinion that the City would struggle to find well trained volunteers if they were not properly paid. He also thought the current model was a cost benefit to the community, when compared to full -time Fire Departments. He was pleased that the Fire Relief Fund was currently funded at 130 %. He explained that he would be supporting star s recommendation. Councilmember Strub reviewed his findings from the State Auditor report. He appreciated the options presented by City Administrator Lotter. He believed the community valued its fire fighters and for this reason, he supported stafFs recommendation. Mayor Jacobsen commented the Fire Division did an outstanding job and provided its member with a high level of training. He questioned how many other departments provided the same level of training to their paid/on-call fire fighters. Fire Fighter Paetzuick discussed the certification and licensure process that all New Brighton fire fighters are required to go through He explained that these requirements were only necessary for full-time firefighters in the State of Minnesota. However, the Public Safety Department believed it to be important enough that this was required of each fire fighter.