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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014_0915_Minutes Open_APPROVED COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Approved as circulated 11/10/14 Board/Committee : SALARY COMMISSION Meeting Date September 15, 2014 Location Mo 'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/213 Start of Meeting: 10 : 30 a.m. End of Meeting : 1 : 21 p .m. Present Chair Michael Machado; Vice Chair Randy Finlay. Members : Charles King; Sheri Kunioka-Volz; Cammie Matsumoto; Lenie Nishihira ( 10 : 37 a.m.); Jo Ann Shimamoto Also : Deputy County Attorney Mona Clark; Boards & Commissions Office Staff. Support Clerk Barbara Davis, Administrator Paula Morikami, Administrative Aide Teresa Tamura Testifiers : Director of Finance Steve Hunt; Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar; Fire Chief Robert Westerman; Acting Personnel Services Manager Thomas Takatsuki; Civil Service Commission Chair John Low; Civil Service Commission Vice Chair Roy Morita; Audience Member Robert Smith Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Machado called the meeting to order at 10 : 30 a.m. with 6 members present Approval of Open Session Minutes of July 7, 2014 Mr. Finlay moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Mr. King seconded the motion. Motion carried 6 : 0 Chair Machado suspended the rules to accommodate Finance Director Steve Hunt' s schedule in order that he could present the fiscal outlook for the County as requested by the Commission. Steve Hunt, Director of Finance — Mr. Hunt was asked to appear before the Commission to explain where the County anticipates revenues and expenses to be heading into the next fiscal year. Mr. Hunt discussed the deficit funding that has gone on for a number of years, the County' s efforts to slow the rate of decline as it heads towards a more stable budget, and that it is looking to get there within the next one to two fiscal years. This year under a flat budget, the County is looking at potentially between $8 and $9 million in new expenditures related to staffing; about $4 million of that is collective bargaining as part of a four year agreement. The Count Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION is facing new collective bargaining agreements in FY 2016, which could amount to a $6 million funding deficit. There are grant funded positions throughout the County, and some are running out of grant funding in which potentially there will be an "ask of the general fund" to pick up some of the expenditure for those employees . The COPS grant, through the Police Department, added a new beat of 6 officers, which will mostly be used in the first year; as that grant runs out the County' s general fund will have to pick up the cost of those officers for three more years. In totality, we are looking at between $8 and $9 million for those expenditures in the next fiscal year. The operating budget currently is roughly $ 181 million of which salaries are about 63 percent. Mr. Finlay noted the brightest outlook would be for an increase in revenue, which would primarily come from increased property values . Mr. Hunt said it could be looked at in two segments of which one would be appreciation although the information right now looks more like a flat market. With growth in the base as new homes and as subdivisions add to the inventory, it could potentially raise the base of the taxes along with appreciation . Mr. Hunt stated that where the County is financially should not be reflective of the Salary Commission' s decisions on executive salaries . Whether or not the County elects to go up to those levels will be a financial decision; the decision as to what those levels should be is within the Commission ' s kuleana. Mr. Hunt further expounded on some of the cost cutting measures the County has and will be implementing. Communications SC 2014-02 Letter dated 6/ 16/ 14 from the Prosecutor' s Office requesting consideration of pay increases for the Prosecutor, First Deputy Attorney and all Deputy Attorneys received 7/7/ 14; on-going) Mr. Finlay moved to receive the communication. Ms. Shimamoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 7 : 0 Justin Kollar, Prosecuting Attorney — (PowerPoint presentation on file) Mr. Kollar explained the mission of the Prosecuting Attorney ' s Office, the Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION structure of his office staffing along with their various duties within the judiciary system. He further pointed out the extensive educational requirements, relocation, and costs involved with being an attorney, the discrepancy in the hourly rate of pay between the private sector and a deputy prosecuting attorney as well as a comparison of government pay rates between the various islands. To gain parity, with Maui cited as a comparable agency, proposed maximums would be $ 127,059 (currently $ 114,848) for the prosecuting attorney; $ 113 , 154 (currently $ 105,660) for the first deputy prosecuting attorney; $ 109,759 (currently $ 101 ,066) for deputy prosecuting attorneys; $ 114, 154 for senior deputy prosecuting attorneys. Mr. Kollar said that all attorneys are not necessarily at the maximum salary cap, and explained a proposed step rate of pay based on number of years, experience, and merit as an attorney. Mr. Kollar noted that approximately 20% of the attorney staff is funded by grants, which historically seems to be fairly stable, but there are no guarantees . SC 2014-01 Letter dated 6/10/14 from the Kauai Police Department requesting correction to the pay inversion for the Chief and Deputes of Police (received 7/7/ 14; on-going) Mr. Finlay moved to receive the communication. Mr. King seconded the motion. Motion carried Robert Westerman, Fire Chief — This agenda item is more in line with the 7 : 0 Fire Department in comparisons because of the inversions . Chief Westerman explained his department does not have assistant chiefs, which means the deputy and the chief have more work to do. One of the problems with pay inversions is 21 of the Kauai firefighters make a higher wage salary than the chief, 32 make a higher wage salary at the end of the year than the deputy chief. This inversion affects all members of the department as well as the Fire Commission when it comes time to find a replacement for the chief. This kind of inversion in salaries makes it extremely difficult to get members of the Fire Department to want to be chief along with all the responsibilities of that position, but do it for Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION $30,000 to $40,000 less than what they are making. Every profession has its costs to achieve a higher position, but it is with the hope that as one moves along in their career they will recoup some of those costs. Salary inversion should not be an administrative decision; it should be the Salary Commission ' s decision, and to understand what it takes to be at the top of our profession. The challenge is to find a way to create a succession plan so that the next chief can come from within our own ranks, but without the salary why would they want to step up . Asked to explain the salary of a captain as opposed to the deputy, Chief Westerman said the senior captain in the Fire Department will make $ 147,000 to include guaranteed overtime for holidays and rank-for-rank. Because of the fluctuation in how a firefighter' s pay is calculated what figure would the Commission us to determine what is fair and 10% above the highest salary. Police do not have as many pay variables as Fire so their salary inversion might be more stable. Recess The meeting was recessed at 11 :45 a.m. and called back to order at 11 : 55 a.m. SC 2014-03 Memo dated 6/25/ 14 from the Civil Service Commission requesting consideration of a pay increase for the Director of DPS/HR in light of the expanded responsibilities for the position (received 7/7/14; on- going) a. Human Resources Taskforce Report on Findings and Recommendations, May 22, 2012 Mr. Finlay moved to receive the communication . Mr. King seconded the motion. Motion carried 7 : 0 John Low, Chair, Civil Service Commission — The process of transitioning from the Department of Personnel Services to the Department of Human Resources, based on the findings of the Human Resources Taskforce two ears ago, has been going on for some time. The recommendations were Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION approved by the Mayor and the County Council, and the Civil Service Commission was charged with implementing the recommendations in the report. While the Commission agrees with the recommendations, the two greatest factors for success for bringing the department into full compliance is to become fully automated, which they still are not and has been a challenge. Secondly the Commission needs to provide the department with a strong director, who has strong leadership qualities and excellent communication skills because as a full Human Resources Department they will have to help out every County department on a daily basis as well as each and every employee. The Department has taken over the County' s payroll, worker' s comp, and several other functions that were being done within the individual departments. The Commission is asking that the salary cap be raised for the director' s position, and while not saying we want to hire a new director at the top step a salary is needed that will bring in viable candidates . Asked if there was a reduction in the number of employees in other departments, Mr. Low said people were reassigned, it eliminated duplication of work, and freed staff up to do other tasks. Mr. Takatsuki further explained the move of personnel from their departments into the HR department. Mr. Low said the bottom line is the department went from 8 to 18 employees; there were no new positions created. Mr. Low further pointed out that it was an expanded department, and while not a huge department its responsibilities are huge. Asked if the Commission had a recommendation, Mr. Low said they did not have a dollar figure, but looking at the comparisons of other islands Maui ' s director is almost $ 114,000 . Questioned whether there are two tiers within the salary structure, Ms . Morikami referred to the Resolution dated March 1 , 2012, in which the maximum for certain department heads is $ 107,335 with the next level at $ 103 ,041 ; those are the two levels that were referred to. Asked how many employees HR takes care of, Mr. Takatsuki said they service 1 ,200 to 1 ,300 County employees . Mr. King questioned the allocation of functions by County shown in the TaskForce report in which Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Kauai performed the fewest functions with Hawaii doing the most, yet it appears that Hawai ` i' s HR position is compensated the least of any of the islands. Mr. Low pointed out that the TaskForce report reflects what was going on at that time; we are continuing to increase the services that the department provides such as all the training, except the specialized training that needs to be done in certain areas . Mr. Takatsuki said all functions would now be checked except the Disability Act, Business SC 2014-04 Information atg hering, review, discussion and possible decision-making with regard to establishing salaries for the fiscal year 2015/2016 for Councilmembers and all officers and employees included in Section 3 -2 . 1 of the Kauai County Code (on-going) a. Comparison of executive pay rates for counties; Comparison of County Department Data and Resident Population FY 2013 -2014 b. Inversion chart of Department/Deputy Department Heads versus highest Civil Service employee C. Resolution 2012- 1 ; Resolution 2012-2 ; Resolution 2012-3 ; Resolution 2013 - 1 ; Resolution 2013 -2 Robert Smith, Audience Member — (Testimony on file) Following a brief background of himself, Mr. Smith felt there was a serious inequity in the compensation for key employees in the County. Testimony compared the Chief Engineer of Public Works position with that of Tehama County in California in which the salary for that position is $ 125, 156 with no cap. Mr. Smith said it is disconcerting that civil service people earn more than the chief engineer, and offered suggestions on how to correct the inequity. Mr. Smith offered to find out what Tehama County ' s annual operating budget is, and Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION provide the information to the Commission. Roy Morita, Vice-Chair, Civil Service Commission — The Commission ' s memo, regarding the Director of Personnel Services, was not specific to a dollar amount, but would like the Salary Commission to consider elevating it to the higher salary such as Parks and Recreation based on the amount of responsibilities added to the position. Mr. Finlay recapped that the request is that the Director of Human Resources should be on par with the position similar to the Director of Parks and Recreation to which Mr. Morita responded that was correct. Chair Machado noted the Commission would not be taking any formal action on this agenda item today. Mr. Finlay said of the 3 issues brought forward today the easiest was the Director of Personnel, and when action is taken it would be very easy to equate that position to the same salary as the Director of Parks and Recreation. The bigger challenge is how to address the other issues. With the inversion issues it was thought that was resolved last year, but it appears we still have those problems. A suggestion would be to adjust some of the salaries similar to Maui . Mr. King reminded the Commissioners that they were only setting a maximum range, and it would be the Police Commission or the Fire Commission that sets the salary to which Mr. Finlay said it would be up to them to work within their budget. Ms. Matsumoto noted there is a need to compensate people fairly, and to establish a system for that because there is a discrepancy. Mr. Finlay said even if they did raise to Maui ' s levels there would still be inversions; it is not a complete solution, but it does close some gaps . Ms. Shimamoto asked for clarification that the last time the department heads received a raise was 2008, except for the Prosecuting Attorney in 2009, and Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Fire and Police in 2012 to which the response was yes. BUs (Bargaining Units) 1 , 2, 3 , 4, 11 , 12, and 13 recently all received increases; prior to that was 2008 or 2009. Ms . Kunioka-Volz suggested 2008 thinking that furloughs began in 2009 . Mr. King said the reason the department heads did not get an increase for the last few cycles was at the request of the Administration. Mr. Finlay said in 2007 significant raises were proposed, which never happened, and now they are in arrears to make salary adjustments. Mr. Finlay said using Maui as a baseline with a few tweaks might be a way to put a brand new Resolution forward that would clean up most of the disparities . Ms . Nishihira suggested they look at all of the positions this Commission takes care of and set caps, and not do it piece by piece, which makes it confusing. Ms. Kunioka-Volz thought it would be interesting to see if the inversion is occurring at the same percentage rate on the other islands. The question posed was if the Commission was going to take any action or just make recommendations for the Staff to work on something to present back to the Commission. Mr. King asked if they wanted to setup a sub- committee to which Mr. Finlay volunteered to be on the sub-committee. Staff advised the Commission on the Sunshine Laws governing PIGS (Permitted Interaction Group), which requires a Resolution be adopted laying out the scope and responsibilities . The PIG would present its report to the full Commission at a duly noticed meeting; discussion and further action would take place at a subsequent duly noticed meeting. Mr. Finlay said Resolution 2012- 1 is the history of salaries on Kaua'i, and in 2007 the salaries were so low that something had to be done so stepped raises were proposed for a three year period. Mr. King added that it was also to correct inversions in the system. Mr. Finlay proposed using the Maui salaries less 5% because we are a smaller county, and exceptions to the rule can be made one-by-one. There will still Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 9 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION be some inversions, but it will be a lot more competitive salary rate than the County currently has. Mr. Finlay thought the Big Island, like Kauai, was way behind, and that Oahu is not comparable, which is why he suggested using the Maui rates . Asked why not adopt the salaries reflected on the Resolution, Mr. Finlay thought they were already obsolete. Ms. Nishihira said the salaries on the Resolution were in-between Maui and the existing Kauai rates except for Fire and Police. Mr. Finlay noted they could do a step Resolution using the 2013 figures for next year, and the Maui version for the year after that. Asked why the Deputy County Attorney reflects "up to" while all other positions have a figure, and should they also be noted "up to" to which Ms. Morikami noted the language in the Resolution states they are maximum salaries . When this was done in 2007 that was not the case so the "up to" language will be removed when the Commission does the new Resolution. Mr. Finlay said a new 2014-01 Resolution is needed that starts everything new, and it could just be they adopt the salaries promised seven years ago or use Maui salaries less 5%. Mr. King said both ideas sounded good, but he would like to see them on paper. It was determined that following this discussion a PIG was not necessary, and perhaps Staff could put together something for the Commission to review. A suggestion was to have Finance do a projection of what this situation will put the County finances in . Because these are salary caps it does not mean the County administrators have to give anyone a raise; that is their decision to make and this only makes it so they can do their job. A reminder was given that this is simply a Resolution that will be proposed to the County Council, and they will act on it or not. Ms. Morikami pointed out that when this Resolution was done in 2007 the County was so far behind everyone else, which is why they received the max. In speaking to Administration they will be doing evaluations on each position, each person, and the caps will not be automatic. Mr. King said the one salary that would be a set max would be the Mayor to which Ms. Morikami said yes. Ms . Morikami pointed out that the Charter does say that the Mayor can take a lower salary if he so chooses . Salary Commission Open Session September 15 , 2014 Page 10 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Staff to provide a comparison using the 7/1 / 13 wage cap with adjustments made to Police, Fire and Personnel as discussed, and to include the Maui rates . Along with that Staff to provide a draft of the new Resolution 2014-01 , which also reflects uniform, cell phone, and other incidentals. Ms. Morikami requested the Attorney' s Office help to draft the Resolution, which has to incorporate the previous 5 Resolutions. Ms. Nishihira asked for an exhibit showing the current salaries and the percentage increase. Ms . Morikami suggested that the Resolution not have any salaries but attach a separate page that the Commission can incorporate into that last column. Mr. King moved to defer SC 2014-04 . Mr. Finlay seconded the motion. Motion carried 7 : 0 Next Meeting Monday, November 10, 2014, 10 : 30 a.m. ; Meeting Room 2 A/B Adjournment Chair Machado adjourned the meeting at 1 :21 p.m. Submitted by: Reviewed and Approved by: Barbara Davis, Support Clerk Michael Machado, Chair O Approved as circulated. ( ) Approved with amendments . See minutes of meeting.