Columbus, Georgia

Minutes



COUNCIL BRIEFING



Meeting

June 10, 2003



Members Present: Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers and Councilors R. Gary Allen,

Wayne Anthony (arrived 8:30 a.m.), Glenn Davis, Berry Henderson, Julius Hunter,

Jr. (arrived 8:27 a.m.), Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., Evelyn Turner Pugh, Nathan

Suber and Evelyn Woodson. Also present were Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff, City

Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay and Finance Director Kay Love.



Members Absent: No one was absent.

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City Manager Cavezza called the meeting to order at 8:25 a.m. in the Council

Chambers Conference Room, Plaza Level, Government Center.



City Attorney?s Agenda:

City Manager Cavezza pointed out that listed on the City Attorney?s Agenda is

an item to adopt State rules on food service. He said that he asked Dr. Zsolt

Koppanyi and Mr. Ed Sadila to brief the Council regarding this matter.



Dr. Zsolt Koppanyi, Health Department Director, came forward to explain they

would like to have the State regulations adopted by the City. He requested

that if the State regulations are incorporated into the City?s ordinances, we

could proceed through Environmental Court, which would be handled more

expeditiously. He pointed out that some establishments owe more than $6,000.,

because fees have not been paid.



An unidentified gentleman came forward to state the Council approved the fees

approximately four years ago and we are not changing that fee schedule. He

pointed out that this ordinance also allows the Health Department, regarding

facilities that continuously fail to comply with regulations, to have a better

mechanism for pointing out the consequences of going to Environmental Court and

being given a fine.



City Manager Cavezza pointed out that this ordinance is on first reading today.



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Budget Ordinance:

City Manager Cavezza recalled that we were asked by Councilor Henderson to

check into the January 1st date to institute both the pay increase and the

health insurance increase. Using the large easel, he demonstrated the results

of instituting both the pay increase and health insurance increase at the same

time by choosing one of the grade levels as an example.



Councilor Henderson expressed his concerns with getting away from the

anniversary date by going to the January 1st date. He said that he was trying

to match the health and pay increase on the anniversary date. He said that he

has since found out that there are two different systems that administer the

health insurance increase and the pay increase.



Finance Director Kay Love then briefly explained how each of the two systems

work to incorporate increases. She pointed out that it is labor intensive to

change it. City Manager Cavezza reminded everyone that the current plan that?s

in the budget is January 1st for the health insurance increase and anniversary

date for the pay increases.



City Manager Cavezza and Finance Director Love responded to various questions

from the members of Council. After there was additional discussion regarding

implementing pay increases and healthcare increases on the anniversary date,

City Manager Cavezza said that it could be done, but it would be an

administrative burden. Finance Director Love said that her concern is once we

change the system to implement the pay increase and health insurance increase

to fall on the anniversary date; then, next year, the decision is made to

change the system again to January 1st implementation; this leaves room for

manual errors. Councilor Henderson pointed out that the initial start up would

be a burden, but once we get through this first year, he would suggest that we

continue this system for next year.



City Manager Cavezza advised that we are going to go ahead and implement the

pay increase and health insurance increase on the employees? anniversary date.



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Pension Plan:

City Manager Cavezza said that we need to discuss the City?s pension plan. He

then proposed that anybody hired after June 30, 2003, their pension shall be 1

? % of their monthly earnings, being vested in 5 years for a maximum of 30

years. He recalled that it is currently 2% a year for a maximum of 30 years.

He said the employees do not contribute to the pension plan at this time, and

they are vested after 5 years. He advised the cost of this pension plan is

getting expensive, and that is the major driving factor. He maintained the

minimum contribution for this year is approximately $10 million, which is up

from $7.6 million last year, and the projection for next year is even higher.

He emphasized that this would not affect current employees; this would only

affect new employees. He added that we are going to be looking at the various

phases on how we can improve our plan. He advised that we are also looking at

a contributory component, because a lot of cities are allowing this, along with

the private sector as well. He pointed out this would take a couple of years

to implement. He said there is also the possibility of 30 years and out. He

said that if we just did the 30 years and out right now, that would cost the

City $3 million a year; we cannot afford that. He said obviously, if we are

going to go to 30 years and out, we are going to have to make some adjustments

in the pension plan and this would be a good way to start.



He then provided an example of how the current plan works using Public Safety

as the basis for the analysis. He mentioned that Public Safety is eligible for

a State Retirement Plan. He then outlined various pension plans of comparable

cities in the State of Georgia. He suggested the 1?% be done this year,

because that would help us to lower what we have to put into the pension plan.



Mayor Poydasheff asked that Public Safety be taken out of the 1?%

recommendation, because we need Public Safety employees. He pointed out that

the Police Department has nineteen slots available.



There was continued discussion on this matter, at which time, City Manager

Cavezza pointed out that this item is listed on the agenda for first reading.



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Meeting adjourned 9:00 a.m.







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Sandra T. Davis, Deputy Clerk of Council