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Employee Compensation Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: 1/28/13 at 11am
Present: Gareth Backhaus, Muriel Lazzarini, Mickey Jervas, Maynard Forbes, Melissa Noe and Daniel Moriarty
Absent: Larry Klein
- The minutes from 1/18/13 were approved as amended.
- The Committee reviewed the salary subcommittee’s updated suggested salary ranges. Two tiers were suggested; one tier offered ranges dependent on the Memorandum Of Understanding being put in place for a multiple year term and the second tier was for one year increases if Memorandums of Understanding should not be instituted. Discussion ensued on COLA increases. It was noted that in the past the average to employees has been 3% (with no increases given one year) and that the method in determining which index to base the COLA increases on has been inconsistent. Maynard questioned why in years past it seems that the SSI COLA has been used when it was below 3% but when SSI is above 3% then it was suggested to use another index (Consumer Price Index or Northeast Index). Melissa commented that it seems
strange to base any COLA increases on the SSI index when town employees do not contribute to social security and are unable to collect social security when they retire. Mickey calculated that the average COLA for SSI over the last 6 years has been 2.28% (for the same period Monterey’s average was 2.5%). Everyone will take these recommendations with them to review and discuss at the next meeting and a vote will be taken to decide whether or not to recommend to the Select Board.
- Mickey stated that she has had complaints made to her about the additional benefits added in last year for on call pay and clothing/boot allowances. It was noted that this was heavily negotiated and discussed between the Select Board, Finance Committee and employees as well as at the informational meeting when this was added. These amounts were added into department budgets and were approved at town meeting.
- It was agreed that a topic for future discussion needs to be increasing attendance at the informational meeting.
- Winter road maintenance was discussed. Working on the highway department in the winter requires checking the roads constantly and in order to keep the roads clear and safe for the residents requires that the road crew members be on call and close to Monterey 24/7 from Nov – Apr. The highway crew is made up of 4 members and they do not have a backup.
- The handbook subcommittee is still working on a few sections within the handbook and will try to have a copy for the committee to review and vote on at the next meeting.
- Muriel is not satisfied with the current definition of retiree and wants to work on this section. Right now it states that, “A retiree is a former full time employee of Monterey who has met the “Member-Inactive” requirements of the Berkshire County Retirement System and is receiving a retirement allowance.” Muriel doesn’t feel that the town should have to follow the definition set by the Berkshire County Retirement System and that towns should be able to set their own policies with regards to who they are and when they are eligible. Muriel feels that as it is right now it would allow for someone to retire at 55 and get half of their HMO paid for until they reach 65. It was pointed out that making any policies to change this could cost the town more money by eligible retirees
working until they are 65 collecting a salary and benefits instead of just 50% of retiree benefits. Maynard stated that there are certain state laws that you cannot go around and noted that employees of the town are required to join the Berkshire County Retirement System and that due to this there are certain rules you have to follow and there are certain things that the town has already adopted. It was suggested that if a change were to be made that it should have a condition that it applies to employees hired after a specific date. Muriel is going to research what other towns are doing and if there are existing laws that would allow or not allow her proposal. Maynard was unsure but thought that laws passed in 2011 raised the eligible minimum retirement age from 55 to 60. The employees present were upset by this proposal as they have all worked here under the impression that when they are eligible to retire (after 20 years with the retirement system)
that no matter their age they would be entitled to ½ of their health insurance premium being paid by the town.
- Condensing/redesigning the presentation of the budget on the warrant was discussed. Maynard noted that the recommendations of salaries (whether it be ranges or 1 year proposed increases) is dependent on whether the budget presentation at town meeting remains as is or is condensed/compressed and presented by department totals. Muriel presented a sample of what she is in favor of which still includes individual line items. If the budget is presented at town meeting as shown in Muriel’s proposal the committee would have to recommend 1 year increases not ranges.
- Memorandum’s of Understanding: The committee felt that there are still many grey areas that we need legal advice on and that due to budget & time constraints we would not be able to make this proposal for FY14.
- Health Insurance: The Committee instructed M. Noe to contact MIIA and find out if when an employee retires that is over 65 but their spouse is under 65 how the plans are set up. Does the retiree go on Medex and the spouse remain on a family HMO plan even if there are no dependents or is the spouse given a single HMO plan? If it is a single plan there were questions as to why an employee that is married with no dependents can’t have 2 single plans. MIIA has stated that 2 single plans is not an option for current employees as the plan is for the subscriber (employee). The town does have the option to add a couple tier but in doing this the family rate will go up slightly as that tier covers 3+ people and a couples plan only covers 2 people.
- The committee determined that they are still not ready to make any recommendations to the Board and they will meet next on Thursday, February 7th at 10am.
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
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