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HomeMy WebLinkAboutADMINISTRATION ACTION SUMMARY 12-07-15central 6. d . 1) Cw) Sanitary District REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA MICHAEL R. MCCILL SANITARY DISTRICT President ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE TA °'.FLECK` President Pro Tent PAUL H. CAUSEY ACTION SUMMARY DAVIDS A. DAVID R. WILLIAMS LL /A Monday, December 7, 2015 PHONE: (925) 228 -9500 y FAX: (925) 372 -0192 8:00 a.m. www.centralsan.org 2nd Floor Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California Committee: Chair David Williams Member Mike McGill Other Attendees: John E. Bartel - President, Bartel Associates, LLC (left after Item 3.) Kimberly Miller — Assistant Vice President/Account Executive, Alliant Employee Benefits (present during Item 4.) Tom Sher — Senior Vice President, Alliant Employee Benefits (present during Item 4.) Eileen Bissen - Employees' Association, Public Employees Union, Local One Staff: General Manager Roger Bailey Deputy General Manager Ann Sasaki Director of Administration David Heath Human Resources Manager Teji O'Malley Communication Services and Intergovernmental Relations Mgr. Emily Barnett Finance Manager Thea Vassallo (left after Item 3.) Finance Administrator Todd Smithey (left after Item 4.) Human Resources Analyst Twila Mullenix (left after Item 4.) District Counsel Kent Alm (arrived during Item 3.) Accounting Technician III and Local One President David Rolley (arrived during Item 3.) Assistant to the Secretary of the District Donna Anderson Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 8:06 a.m. Administration Committee Action Summary December 7, 2015 Page 2 2. Public Comments None. 3. Receive presentation from John Bartel of Bartel and Associates regarding reporting of the Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) and Other Post - Employment Benefits (OPEB) as part of annual compensation to District staff Mr. Bartel reviewed his presentation distributed prior to the meeting. He stated that when the District responds to future Public Records Act requests or requests from the State Controller's Office for employee compensation data, he would recommend against including the UAAL and OPEB as part of any individual employee's compensation. The portion of the unfunded liabilities that the District has been attributing to current employees over the past several years is problematic in that it is not "compensation," but is being reported as such. He understands the desire for transparency, but the way it has been reported is easily misinterpreted and overstates compensation. He acknowledged that reporting requirements from the State are unclear. He also acknowledged that the information provided to the State Controller's Office is being used by the State to reflect compensation received. To report a more accurate and clear picture of employee compensation, Mr. Bartel said the District should report the normal cost for the current year and then denote elsewhere in the report the overall contribution made by the District toward unfunded liabilities. He said that would be consistent with the way most other agencies have been reporting. Mr. Bartel said he based his recommendation on the fact that it is impossible to separate the amount of unfunded liability attributable to any given employee because individual employee data has not been tracked separately from inception. Therefore, including any amount for unfunded liabilities would be arbitrary. In response to a question from Member Williams as to the possibility of keeping the data separate from this point forward, Mr. Bartel said the cost of maintaining such information would not be cost effective relative to the benefit that would be realized by the District. Mr. Heath said that he agrees that transparency is paramount and, based on his experience with other public agencies and after discussions with three other actuaries, the consensus is that UAAL costs relate to past service provided by employees. Normal pension cost represents the contribution required to fund the benefit earned by employees for the current year of service. Since compensation surveys are designed to capture annual total compensation, they would be distorted by including past service cost. Administration Committee Action Summary December 7, 2015 Page 3 Member McGill asked why the unfunded liabilities were apportioned among individual employees in the first place. The response was that it was an attempt to be transparent with respect to the District's unfunded liabilities. Mr. Bartel noted that doing so would not be problematic had they not been categorized as "compensation. " Based on the discussion and advice of Mr. Bartel, Mr. Bailey said he believes the District should refrain from expressing the unfunded liabilities as a per - capita compensation figure in favor of expressing them as an operating cost with a clear explanation. The Committee Members concurred with this approach. Chair Williams added, however, that the annual unfunded liability payments should be made very clear in all reporting. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the presentation and provided input to staff. 4. Receive presentation from Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. regarding benefit broker services that will be provided to the District Ms. O'Malley introduced Mr. Sher and Ms. Miller of Alliant Employee Benefits, noting that Alliant recently replaced the benefits broker utilized by the District for over twenty years. Mr. Sher briefly revievted the presentation distributed in advance of the meeting. It was noted that Alliant will be working with the District to review its benefits programs; help facilitate compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the "Pay or Play" and "Cadillac Tax" provisions; and will help coordinate with District staff and employee bargaining units as needed to assure that all parties are properly educated on all aspects of the law and compliance issues with respect to benefits. Eventually, once Alliant has become fully knowledgeable about the District's programs, a benefits audit will be performed. Member McGill noted that the District has several consultants working on different aspects in preparation for the 2017 labor negotiations and asked how their work will be integrated. Mr. Bailey said the District is in the process of retaining a consultant to assist with the total compensation survey. Once hired, a meeting between that consultant, Alliant and IEDA, the District's labor negotiations consultant, will be arranged to coordinate services. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the presentation and provided input to staff. 5. Update on closed session protocols Mr. Alm referred to his letter and memorandum circulated prior to the meeting. It was his recommendation that, while discretionary, closed session minutes be taken and that the person charged with presentation of the closed session Administration Committee Action Summary December 7, 2015 Page 4 materials not typically be the person designated to take and keep the minutes. Historically, the Secretary of the District has attended closed sessions and maintained the minutes, but it could be a different person depending on the topic covered. Mr. Bailey asked if it would be permissible to have a designated minute taker for certain items, such as labor negotiations, and another for other closed session items. Mr. Alm said yes, but for consistency and confidentiality, such designations should be spread among as few individuals as possible. In terms of his recommendation for minute content, Mr. Alm said there would be no need to record anything if no action were taken. For action items, it would be important to maintain who made and seconded the motion, and how each person voted. Mr. Alm noted that there are only several areas, as pointed out in his memorandum, where actions must be publicly reported. In the District's case, those would most likely center on litigation matters, public employment, labor negotiations, and occasional real estate negotiations. Member McGill suggested a spreadsheet be prepared covering those areas for reference by the Board during closed sessions, including when and what must be reported. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update and requested a template for closed session minutes and a spreadsheet summarizing reportable actions for those areas most likely to affect the District. 6. Standing Items a. Planning for 2017 Labor Negotiations 1) Review Gantt chart of activities leading up to 2017 Labor Negotiations Ms. O'Malley said one minor change had been made to Item 4 to reflect progress regarding retention of a total compensation consultant. b. Risk Management - No staff report C. Update on pending litigation re AB 197 (Public Employers Pension Reform Act of 2013) (PEPRA) and Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association (CCCERA) straddling issues Mr. Alm reported that briefs are being filed. COMMITTEE ACTION: Provided input to staff as needed. Administration Committee Action Summary December 7, 2015 Page 5 7. Announcements a. Future scheduled meetings: Monday, December 21, 2015 at 8 :00 a.m. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the announcements. 8. Suggestions for future agenda items Chair Williams asked that further discussion toward developing a code of conducdethics policy be agendized for the December 21 meeting. 9. Adjournment - at 10:43 a.m.