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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/15/2011, C5 - CITY COUNCIL COMPENSATION WAIVER REQUESTS A] council M¢m'/ j ac,Enda aepont 'Wm"°m6. C I TY OF SAN LU IS O B I S P O FROM: Christine Dietrick, City Attorney Monica Irons, Human Resources Director SUBJECT: CITY COUNCIL COMPENSATION WAIVER REQUESTS RECOMMENDATION Adopt a resolution: 1. Endorsing waivers by the Mayor and all Councilmembers receiving the benefit of the 8% employer paid member contribution (EPMC) paid by the City on behalf of the Mayor and participating Councilmembers to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); and 2. Endorsing monthly salary waiver requests by Councilmembers Ashbaugh, Carter and Smith, resulting in a reduction in monthly compensation from $1,000 per month to $949 per month, effective the first full payroll period in January 2012, through the remainder of the terms of office of each Councilmember. DISCUSSION Council compensation and benefits are established every other year by Council action after the Council Compensation Committee conducts a biennial review and makes a recommendation. Council compensation was increased most recently by Resolution 9990 (2008 Series) in June of 2008. However, by action taken at its September 30, 2008 special meeting, Council subsequently rescinded that increase, returning compensation for the Mayor to $1,200 and Councilmember compensation to $1,000 per month, consistent with prior compensation established in 2006 by Resolution number 9794. While Council compensation is governed by Charter and can only be set in even numbered years, individual Councilmembers may waive any portion of the compensation provided to them at any time. Upon election as Mayor, Jan Marx waived $100 per month of her compensation in recognition of the difficult fiscal situation facing the City. Similarly, Councilmember Dan Carpenter opted to waive a portion of the compensation to which he was entitled, and he currently receives $850 monthly compensation, rather than the $1,000 per month to which Councilmembers are entitled. At its October 25, 2011 meeting, Council discussed its Policies and Procedures Manual, including the Council Compensations Chapter of that manual. During that meeting, the Mayor and each of the Councilmembers indicated that they wished to make further compensation waivers in the form of individual waivers of the 8% (EPMC), which is currently paid by the City to PERS on behalf of all participating employees. In addition, Councilmembers Ashbaugh, Carter and Smith directed staff that they, like the Mayor and Councilmember Carpenter, also wanted to reduce their monthly compensation to achieve an overall compensation waiver equal to or greater than the 6.8% reduction in total employee compensation costs that is reflected in 2011-13 financial plan and C5-1 i Council Compensation Waivers Requests Page 2 toward which all City employees will be asked to contribute. The requested reduction would reduce those Councilmembers' monthly compensation from $1,000 to $949. The reductions requested by all members of the current Council are binding only upon the individuals making the waivers and will not affect the compensation of future elected officials. General Council compensation levels will remain as currently set unless further compensation committee and Council action, consistent with the Charter and existing procedures, is taken permanently to reduce the generally applicable compensation rates. FISCAL IMPACT This action will result in a savings of$7,080 in total compensation to the City's General Fund on an on annual basis. This is total savings resulting from the salary changes elected by Council Members Ashbaugh, Carter and Smith, and the savings in PERS costs for all five Council Members. These savings will be implemented beginning with the first full pay period in January 2012 and continuing through the terms of the current Mayor and Council. ALTERNATIVES Do not endorse the compensation waivers, in which case individual Councilmembers could proceed with individual salary waiver direction, but individual EPMC contribution waiver requests could not be accomplished without the participation of each individual in the group. ATTACHMENT Resolution C5-2 RESOLUTION NO. (2011 Series) A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO ENDORSING THE COUNCIL COMPENSATION WAIVER REQUESTS FOR MAYOR AND ALL COUNCILMEMBERS FOR THEIR CURRENT TERMS OF OFFICE WHEREAS, Charter Section 410 provides for compensation and reimbursement of expenses for the Mayor and Council Members; and WHEREAS, Compensation for the office of Mayor was set at $1,200 per month and the compensation for the office of City Council Member was set at $1,000 per month by Resolution Number 9794 (2006 Series) and compensation remains at those levels, as reflected in Section 2.1 of the Council Policies and Procedures; and WHEREAS, the City currently pays the 8% employer paid member contribution (EPMC) to the California Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) toward the retirement of participating Councilmembers; WHEREAS, the Mayor and each of the current participating Councilmembers desires to waive his or her EPMC portion of the Council compensation and pay the member contribution; and WHEREAS,Councilmembers Ashbaugh, Carter and Smith wish to waive $51 per month of the compensation currently provided to them, thereby reducing their monthly compensation to $949: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo as follows: SECTION 1. The City Council hereby acknowledges and endorses that the Mayor and all currently participating City Council members wish to and hereby do waive the 8% EPMC paid on their behalf by the City to PERS and, beginning the first full pay period in January 2012, the Mayor and each participating Councilmember shall pay his or her own member contribution to PERS. SECTION 2. The City Council hereby acknowledges and endorses the waivers of salary by Councilmembers Ashbaugh, Carter and Smith, which shall reduce the monthly compensation of each of the Councilmembers from $1,000 to $949, effective the first full payroll period in January 2012. R C5-3 \`J Resolution No. (2011 Series) Page 2 SECTION 3. Upon the conclusion of the terms of office of the current Mayor and Councilmembers, compensation for any new member holding the office of Mayor and Councilmembers shall automatically be adjusted consistent with the City Charter, the then applicable Council Compensation Resolution, and the Council Policies and Procedures Manual. Upon motion of , seconded by , and on the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: The foregoing resolution was adopted this day of 2011. Mayor Jan Marx ATTEST: Elaina Cano City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: r-- )� - C� hristine Dietnck City Attorney C5-4 G PUBLIC HEARING 1 CONTINUED TO A DATE CERTAIN, DECEMBER 6, 2011 .