HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Packet 03-29-1993 SpecialA m fK1
CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
MONDAY, MARCH 29, 1993
5:00 P.M.
5:00 P.M. INTERVIEWS - Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council
Applicants
5:45 P.M. DINNER
6:00 P.M. 1) AUTOMOBILE POLICY.
2) VACATION POLICY
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447
DATE: March 24, 1993
TO: Dwight Johnson, City Manager
FROM: Frank Boyles, Former Assistant City Manager and Fred Moore,
Public Works Director
SUBJECT: CITY VEHICLES
On November 9, 1992, Mayor Bergman wrote a memorandum to me (attached),
indicating that he wanted to know which employees get city vehicles to drive home,
how much the city is reimbursed for personal mileage, and how do other communities
provide for transportation for similar employees on city business?
This inquiry came directly on the heels of Jim Willis's resignation and criticism that the
Council received both for providing Jim Willis with a Chrysler Imperial. This was
complicated by the fact that the original vehicle was destroyed by fire and that the city
ultimately paid Jim $12,000 in lieu of the car which we were obliged to provide by the
Settlement Agreement.
In light of those conditions, it is the Council's desire to stay away from the acquisition
of "name plate" cars in the future, including New Yorker, Imperial, Town Car, etc.
We have advised the Council that we will purchase vehicles only from the Hennepin
County. and State of Minnesota Cooperative- Purchasing Agreements, or in lieu of. that,
limit -our acquisitions to vehicles which are bid in those agreements (see attached
October 30, 1992 memo).
I also asked Jeanette to inquire which city employees in other communities receive
either a car allowance or 24-hour car. The results of her survey are attached.
CITY VEHICLES
March 24, 1993
Page 2
As you can see from the table, take home vehicles are more typically provided to the
City Manager and some or all of the department heads. Some cities provide vehicles to
other high volume users such as public works superintendent and building official.
I believe that the Council's second objective is to minimize, to the extent possible, the
number of city cars which may be used by employees for personal use. The Council's
concern does not deal with the pool cars which are used during the normal workday,
but rather those vehicles that are kept overnight. In the case of Plymouth, the
following individuals receive a 24-hour car:
Public Works Maintenance Superintendent (Jim Kolstad)
Director of Community Development (Chuck Dillerud)
Assistant City Manager (Vacant)
Director of Public Safety (Craig Gerdes)
Chief Building Official (Joe Ryan)
Two Fire Prevention Inspectors (Kevin Leuer and Stan Scofield)
Fire Chief (Rick Kline)
Except for the Fire Prevention Inspectiors, the vehicles were provided in lieu of
income. These vehicles are not to be used for personal use other than from the
employee's home to work. In accordance with IRS regulations, they are W -2'd for the
value of this -benefit.
The following persons receive a monthly car allowance:
Finance Director (Dale Hahn)
Director of Public Works (Fred Moore)
Park and Recreation Director (Eric Blank)
City Engineer (Dan Faulkner)
City Manager (Dwight Johnson)
All except the City Engineer receive $300 per month. The City Engineer receives $250
per month based upon his employment agreement.
At $300 per month, the cost of this benefit to the City is $3,600 per employee. Fred
Moore indicates that the cost of providing a city car, including depreciation, insurance,
maintenance and gas amounts to $3,700 per year. Consequently, there is not a
significant dollar savings shifting from providing a vehicle to a car allowance. There
may, however, be a significant potential for savings both in liability exposure and * in
public perception..
CITY VEHICLES
March 24, 1993
Page 3
This year the City has budgeted to acquire the following vehicles:
Four replacement vehicles for the police investigators
Three replacement vehicles for the general employee pool
Two new purchase vehicles, one for the housing inspector and the other for police
investigators.
I have made inquiries to individuals who currently receive a city car to find out whether
they would be interested in shifting to a monthly allowance. The results are shown
below:
Existing City
Vehicle Name
Jim Kolstad Jim uses this car significantly during the day for
1990 Plymouth a variety of purposes. Last year his vehicle
Acclaim accumulated 12,000 miles during the normal
workday. This excludes approximately 2,000
miles he accrued driving the vehicle to and from
work. Jim's preference is to receive a car
allowance of $300 per month. The existing
vehicle would be used as one of the replacement
pool vehicles.
1992 Ford Chuck Dillerud Chuck is interested in receiving a car allowance,
5 -Speed Manual rather than a car. This vehicle could be shifted
Transmission to the housing inspector and in doing so,
alleviate the need to purchase a new vehicle for
this position. The monthly allowance here
should be $300 per month.
1992 Chrysler Frank Boyles This vehicle should be moved to the police
LaBaron investigator pool. This vehicle would substitute
for the additional vehicle. The new assistant
city manager would not be provided with a 24-
hour car. He/she could either use a pool car or
be provided with a monthly auto allowance.
CITY VEHICLES
March 24, 1993
Page 4
1992 Chrysler
New Yorker
Salon
1988 Ford
Escort
Two - 1990
Plymouth
Voyagers
1993 Crown
Victoria
Craig Gerdes Craig has expressed discomfort in having this
car, even though I believe the City Council
recognizes that it would not be financially
prudent for us to sell it. It is recommended that
we retain it until normal trade in time. This
vehicle should be shifted to the investigator
pool. It would be useful to use as a "plant" for
various investigations as it tends to fit well with
the type of vehicles found in Plymouth. Craig
would simply exchange this vehicle for one of
the Ford Taurus in the investigation pool and
continue to have the 24-hour use of a city
vehicle in lieu of a monthly allowance.
Joe Ryan Joe would prefer to receive a monthly allowance
of $300 per month. This vehicle would be
shifted to the general employee pool and take
the place of one of the replacement vehicles
previously budgeted.
Fire Prevention Presently the Fire Prevention Inspectors use
Inspectors their mini -vans 24 -hours a day, seven days a
week. This is a carry over from the days when
the Fire Inspectors were expected to respond to
fires during the workday, as well as after hours
and on weekends. They are no longer allowed
to respond to fires during the normal work day
except in extenuating circumstances. Therefore,
it is appropriate that they no longer receive the
cars on a 24-hour basis, but leave the vehicles at
the City Center building when not working.
Rick Kline This vehicle is a police package vehicle. outfitted
for emergency - response. Rick will use the
vehicle on a 24-hour basis so that he is the first
to respond to an alarm. In doing so, he can
establish a command post or call off remaining
units, depending upon the circumstances.
CITY VEHICLES
March 24, 1993
Page 5
The impact of the changes suggested above will substitute four (4) existing vehicles for
1993 budget replacement vehicles and provide a monthly auto allowance to four (4)
additional employees. Four (4) vehicles which are scheduled to be traded will be sold
with our other vehicle purchases.
Although this proposal saves a minor amount of money, it reduces the. number of
vehicles which the city owns, while recognizing that the vehicles were originally
provided to these employees in lieu of compensation. In summary, the following
positions will receive an auto allowance:
City Manager (Dwight Johnson): $300/month
Finance Director (Dale Hahn): $300/month
Director of Public Works (Fred Moore): $300/month
Park and Recreation Director (Eric Blank): $300/month
Director of Community Development (Chuck Dillerud): $300/month
Public Works Maintenance Superintendent (Jim Kolstad): $300/month
Chief Building Official (Joe Ryan): $300/month
City Engineer (Dan Faulkner): $250/month
The only positions provided a vehicle on a 24-hour basis would be:
Director of Public Safety (Craig Gerdes)
Fire Chief (Rick Kline)
IAA G;_ T. 5 7 1-iI Iii)! iiEb;k,%IA pul.
7J Crank Boyles/Acting City Manager
k:'r'i M. Bergman/Mayor
DATi . 1 1/9/92
I *-r Co!)+'rnt'd wt`,i our policy Uf d<:CfUr 7 vacation pay, land providing city
I;" -ICS to efe, I: employees. 140ay inform the council now the
ry . ;p '+i /days u ,vacaticin. 3nc i1{0W W j hj3 vacation time.
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pCe the `i;`.Ve so that rve ca,) adequately budget for these, amounts.
ri,;ful to k:no runow oLt C,irnlUntilP,S deal with this
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get city MIC ie`j todrI e `•/ homic CtC; n How is the city
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Y. extremely t; sy Frair) , but ' wrlu!d Me to incorporate Mese
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447
DATE: October 30, 1992
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Frank Boyles, Acting City Manager
SUBJECT: AUTOMOBILE POLICY
Mayor Bergman has asked that I propose a policy regarding vehicle acquisition which
assures that the City does not purchase "upscale" vehicles (Chrysler New Yorkers,
Imperials, or the like) in the future.
For Council information, the City currently possessed only one vehicle which some
might consider upscale. This vehicle is a 1992 Chrysler New Yorker Salon provided to
the Public Safety Director as part of his employment package. The Mayor has
suggested that it might be appropriate to dispose of this vehicle by sale. I believe that
the City would lose money on such a transaction and therefore, I would not recommend
it. Instead, I suggest that we use this vehicle one of three ways:
1. Provide it to Jim Willis to fulfill the City's contractual obligation. (Jim will be test
driving this car this weekend and returning it on Monday with his decision).
2. In the event that number 1 is unsuccessful, retain the vehicle in the event that the
new City Manager desires a car, rather than car allowance.
3. In the event that the new manager does not desire a car, have the Public Safety
Director continue to use the vehicle until it is traded in.
Upscale vehicles will not be purchased in the future. Upscale vehicles are considered
to' be any line of vehicles, regardless of manufacturer, which are equivalent to or above
the New Yorker or Imperial Chrysler lines.
To assure that upscale vehicles are not purchased in the future, we would acquire
vehicles in one of three ways:
AUTOMOBILE POLICY
October 30, 1992
Page 2
1. Utilize the State Cooperative Purchasing Program.
2. Utilize the Hennepin County Cooperative Purchasing Program.
3. Negotiate directly with other dealerships for non -name plate vehicles. Direct
negotiations with dealerships would be used only if there is clear financial benefit to
the City and/or if the vehicle type or features are such that they are not available
through the Cooperative Purchasing Programs.
Regardless of method of acquisition, vehicles purchased for City use will be selected
based upon:
1. The ability of the vehicle to meet the City's needs.
2. Maintenance history and operating cost of the vehicle and consistency with existing
fleet.
3. Purchase price versus expected life span, operating, and maintenance costs.
If the Council concurs with these recommendations, no action is necessary. Otherwise,
the Council may wish to discuss this subject at the November 2 meeting.
FB:keb
cc: Dale Hahn, Finance Director
Fred Moore, Public Works Director
Jim Kolstad, Public Works Superintendent
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DATE: March 23, 1993
TO: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager
FROM: Jeanette Sobania, Personnel Coordinato
SUBJECT: PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
The current vacation accrual policy for city employees as stated in both the Personnel Policy
and in the various contracts is as follows:
An overtime exempt employee may retain a maximum of two times his/her annual accrual rate
of vacation.
An overtime eligible employee may accrue up to one and one-half times his/her annual accrual
rate of vacation.
The accrual rate for vacation starts at two weeks for an entry level employee, the maximum is
four weeks accrual for an employee who has over fifteen years of employment with the City.
The following table illustrates the number of hours which can be accrued as a maximum by
various levels of employees.
ACCRUAL
Annual Accrual
Rate in Hours 1.5 Times 2.0 Times
2 weeks
80 hours 120 hours 160 hours
3 weeks
120 hours 180 hours 240 hours
4 WPP.kC
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 2
0
There are 38 employees who are overtime exempt; seven sergeants are also eligible for the two
times maximum accrual rate. Thus, there are a maximum of 45 people who can accrue up to
320 hours if they have the requisite number of years with the City, i.e., fifteen. The
remaining 130 employees who are eligible for vacation and who are also overtime eligible may
accrue up to a maximum of 240 hours of vacation. They, too, must have worked for the City
for over fifteen years to have this maximum accrual rate.
It is permissible under the personnel policy to accrue a larger number of maximum hours with
the express approval of the City Manager. There are currently six employees who exceed their
maximum accrual rate. My understanding is that some of them have the express permission of
the City Manager and others have just retained the numbers on the books with no express
permission.
Below is a table which illustrates the vacation accrual maximums allowed by a number of other
cities in the metro area. Some allow a waiver and some do not, as illustrated by the second
column. As illustrated by the table, the City of Plymouth is at the upper end of accrual
allowances for both overtime exempt and overtime eligible employees. One reason which
might be cited for these higher maximum levels is the much more stringent sick leave policy of
the City. Since it would take an employee approximately twelve years of never being sick to
accrue sufficient sick leave hours to cover the time from the onslaught of an illness to the time
at which they would be eligible for the long-term disability insurance coverage, it is prudent
for an employee to accrue some vacation to cover that type of eventuality. An employee may
use vacation to cover a long-term illness.
Vacation Accrual Maximum
City Waiver Maximum Accrual Balance
Apple Valley N 320
Brooklyn Center Y 200
Blaine Y 200
Cottage Grove N 240
Columbia Heights Y 240
Fridley Y 240*
Golden Valley Y 400
Maple Grove N 200
Moundsview Y 120
New Brighton Y 160
New Hope 160
T?,amcnv N 11n
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 3
The average accrual maximum is 226 hours. The maximums most frequently cited were:
160-3
200-4
240-4
320-2
We should take immediate steps to reduce the maximum accruals which exceed the rates
allowed by the Personnel Policy and contracts. We can do this by notifying employees that
they must by the end of 1993 have reduced those maximums or lose that additional vacation.
A second step which might be prudent is to reduce the maximum accrual balance to 240 hours
for all employees. This would significantly reduce our exposure and liability for vacation
accrual. If we chose to reduce the maximum allowable accrual to be 240 hours, the effect
would be to place an additional seven employees over the maximum.
Another alternative which I have been exploring is the possibility of introducing an annual
leave policy which would combine sick leave and vacation. Both Fridley and Shoreview
currently have such a policy.
In a nutshell, an annual leave plan does the following;
1. Replaces present sick leave, vacation, emergency funeral leave, and injury -on -duty
leave with a universal and personal leave concept.
2. It does not replace holidays, military leave, jury duty leave, or any other paid leave
required by law.
3. Annual leave combines the accrual rate of vacation and sick leave at approximately
the following rates:
a. One through five years at 14/15 days per year.
b. Five through ten years at 19/20 days per year.
c. After fifteen years, 24/25 days per year.
4. Annual leave takes two forms;
a. Planned leave which is will be scheduled in advance with supervisor approval.
b. Emergency leave which will require notification of the department within one-
half hour of the employee's scheduled working days if the employee is not at
work when the emergency occurs.
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 4
5. The maximum total accumulation of annual leave for any individual employee at the
end of any given year will be 30 days (240 hours).
6. Upon separation from employment, an employee will be paid one day's salary for
each day of accrued annual leave remaining in the employee's balance. This
maximum would be 240 hours for all employees.
7. The City will provide short-term disability (STD) for each employee who has
successfully completed his/her probationary period. STD applies to physician
certified illness or injury whether on or off the job.
8. STD insurance coverage will commence on the 21st consecutive working day on
which an employee is absent due to a physician -certified illness or injury and will
continue until the employee returns to work able to carry out his or her duties, or
through the 110th working day of absence, whichever occurs first.
9. STD insurance will assure continuance of the employee's regular rate of pay at the
time of the disabling incident. This amount will be reduced by any payments made
from worker's compensation insurance, PERA retirement association disability
insurance, or social security disability insurance.
10. An employee receiving payments under the City's STD insurance plan will not accrue
annual leave.
11. Coverage under STD insurance will extend for a maximum of 90 days for any single
illness or injury regardless of the number and spacing of episodes.
12. The City will assure that any employee who is out for more than 20 working days in
succession is able to come back to work through the use of a physician certification
program. The City may also wish to verify that someone is indeed ill through the use
of their own physician.
13. The City will continue to provide the long-term disability (LTD) insurance that it has
in the past.
The current sick leave plan is one of the most frequently criticized aspects of employment at
the City of Plymouth. Various features of the plan make employees feel that they are assumed
to be abusers, even when they are legitimately ill. The rate of accrual is so slow as to virtually
ensure that anyone who is seriously ill, even after many years of employment will be unable to
cover their entire illness with accumulated days of leave.
Finally, there is a great incentive to come to work sick so as to ensure that one accrues as
many days as possible through the doubling at the end of the year.