pages: CityCouncil/2013-07-23.pdf, 18
This data as json
body | date | page | text | path |
---|---|---|---|---|
CityCouncil | 2013-07-23 | 18 | rather than hire more employees. Vice Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether benefits for employees hired after June 2011 are averaged on the three highest years of salary, to which the City Manager responded in the affirmative. Vice Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether the same could be done for current employees. The City Manager responded the report suggests treating healthcare benefits for current employees more like a pension program; the premium percentage would depend upon years of service; at 5% per year, employees would get 100% coverage at 20 years and 50% at 10 years; the percentage could be another amount, such as 4% or 8%; the change would be subject to negotiation. Mayor Gilmore stated employees vest after 10 years; inquired whether retirement is age 55 instead of 50. The City Manager stated there are options; Alameda has selected 2.7% at age 57. Mayor Gilmore inquired whether the tiered approach would mean that public safety employees would work longer, to which the City Manager responded in the negative; stated people will probably work longer and not retire at 50; in 30 years, safety employees will probably retire at 57; the new formula applies to employees hired after this past January and would not impact the OPEB benefit level; although the City uses PERS, the trust fund may not necessarily be a PERS trust fund; the question is whether Council wants to staff to engage unions about making the healthcare benefit more like the pension benefit. Vice Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft responded in the affirmative. The City Manager stated changes which impact current employees are all negotiable. Mayor Gilmore requested the City Treasurer to address the type of investments that would be available to the City under a trust fund. The City Treasurer stated the staff report indicates OPEB is the largest threat to the long term fiscal stability of the City; he concurs; OPEB needs to be solved by making cuts and finding revenue; a trust fund makes sense if the City has extra money; however, the City does not have extra money; the only way to directly impact the liability is to impact current employees' benefits, which is very difficult; employees have to be asked to make sacrifices; the idea of bonding involves risk; the City needs to find a balance that is the least painful for everyone involved. Mayor Gilmore stated Council consensus seems to be that the City should move forward with the trust fund; how the trust fund would be funded is another issue; having Regular Meeting Alameda City Council 17 July 23, 2013 | CityCouncil/2013-07-23.pdf |