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Meet and Confer Minutes - 12/02/2009 MEET AND CONFER CITY OF WICHITA FALLS & WICHITA FALLS FIRE DEPARTMENT DECEMBER 2, 2009 PRESENT: Darron J. Leiker, City Manager § Jim Dockery, Assistant City Manager/CFO § Earl Foster, Fire Chief § Julia Vasquez, First Assistant City Attorney § City Administration Tammy Guerra, Civil Service Director § Glenn Barham § City Council Brady Duke (President, Local 432) § Keith Morton § International Association of Chris Duncan § Firefighters, Local 432 Nick Hiliner § Bobby Whiteley § I. CALL TO ORDER. Darron Leiker called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. He welcomed the attendees. 11. DISCUSSION OF ASSIGNMENT PAY FOR SCOTT AIR PACK TECHNICIANS. Brady Duke said the Association had heard that assignment pay for SCOTT Air Pack Technicians had a good possibility of making it into this year's budget. That is why this item is presented for discussion. Due to the number of employees that would benefit, however, Haz-Mat assignment pay would be most desirable. He reiterated the Association's desire to pursue this and all forms of assignment pay. Mr. Leiker reminded the Association of the very tough budget year, due to several reasons, including increased costs for TMRS, commodities, and utilities. In addition, the City's revenue took a hit by the closure of the St. Gobain Vetrotex plant. Property-based growth has not been realized. Finally, Wichita Falls, like most other national and state economies, is experiencing drastic declines from sales tax revenue. Difficult decisions had to be made. There were no pay increases in the step program, or any cost-of-living adjustment. However, there were no pay cuts, and very MEET&CONFER-CWF&WFFD DECEMBER 2, 2009 2 few positions were eliminated. This year's above current requests totaled $9.3 million, of which only around $300,000 were funded. He did not recommend assignment pay funding to the City Council. He only recommended those items that might save the City money. He would be willing to consider it in the future, but his first priority is to reinstate the step program and possibly provide a cost-of-living adjustment. However, it is too early to make any promises or predictions on that front. Mr. Duke opined that the Association would prefer to see the step plan reinstated over assignment pay funding. Mr. Leiker noted that in order for the City to stay competitive, and retain and attract quality employees, there must not be a long period of time without an adjustment to the pay plan. Staff will be looking at ways over the next few months to cut costs to make room for that adjustment. Still, Wichita Falls employees have it better than those in the Metroplex. Dallas city employees have 5 to 8 furlough days this year, basically a day off without pay, in order to keep costs down. Mr. Leiker asked how many firefighters are certified air pack technicians. Chief Foster said it is 6 or 7; they had another class to get more of them certified to cover all the shifts. Jim Dockery asked for confirmation that the request is for an additional $100 per month per certified technician. Mr. Duke agreed. III. DISCUSSING REGARDING LOCAL 432'S PRESENTATION OF A PLAN REGARDING PAYMENT OF UNUSED SICK HOURS TO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS UPON RETIREMENT. Mr. Leiker said he understood the Association wished to delay discussion of this item. Mr. Duke said they are not ready with their presentation. He would like this discussed at a future meeting. Mr. Leiker said March 2010 would be a good time to meet again. He will have a better picture of how revenue sources look at that point. IV. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE USE OF INDIVIDUAL FIRE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS' LEAVE TO ATTEND CERTAIN CLASSES BENEFICIAL TO THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS. Mr. Duke said that Association members go to State Firefighter conventions every year. They attend classes on civil service, meet and confer, and workers' compensation. Since they believe attendance at these conventions also benefits the City, they are requesting City time off to attend. Mr. Leiker asked if the attendees at the conventions are their counterparts, to which Mr. Duke replied affirmatively. Mr. Leiker said the Police Association had a similar request. He is not sold on the idea of providing paid leave for Association business. Those duties are assumed based upon a personal desire to serve. The City has enough trouble getting funds together for required training. A 10% cut across the board for travel has been made the past two years. That fund may eventually be reduced to allow travel only when it is absolutely required to retain certification. MEET& CONFER-CWF &WFFD DECEMBER 2, 2009 3 Keith Morton clarified that the Association is not requesting any money, but simply time off with pay. There would be a limited number of days per year, and the time off would possibly be approved by the Fire Chief. Mr. Leiker asked if the Association would consider a leave bank for that purpose, whereby the Association members would donate time to the bank that its officers could use to attend training. Mr. Duke replied that he will poll the members. They have checked with other cities across the state, but most of those cities with this leave approval have collective bargaining. Mr. Leiker said that would have been negotiated as part of the collective bargaining agreement. He urged the Association to consider the leave bank as an option. Philosophically, he does not view Association attendance at these conventions as a city requirement, but rather, a personal desire. Mr. Leiker noted that was the end of the posted items on the agenda, but asked if there were any other topics they wished to discuss. Mr. Duke noted that manning issues will be an item they will continue to pursue. It is a priority, but further down the line. Pay is the number one issue. However, they feel they are still two men short at Stations 3 and 4 to comply with the two-in/two-out rule. Mr. Leiker said he will look to Chief Foster for his recommendation to ensure the City is meeting its responsibilities. Three to four years ago, the City added six positions largely to meet that two-in/two-out mandate. The discussion at that time was to monitor the situation to see how many times the department responds to a structure fire without the appropriate number of staff. Changes will be made, if necessary. Mr. Leiker asked if there were other issues. Nick Hillner said everything is great, except they would like more money in their pockets and more men on the scene. He then returned to the leave bank idea. He would like to see some type of bank wherein veteran firefighters, typically with a large number of sick hours on the books, could donate into a pool from which the younger firefighters who may experience a catastrophic illness or injury could partake. Mr. Leiker said the City has such a leave bank, launched 5-6 years ago. It is geared toward those employees who do suffer some catastrophic illness or injury and who have exhausted their personal supply of sick leave. They can appeal to a sick leave committee, composed of a cross-section of employees. Their task is to hear the appeal and decide if it meets policy guidelines. Appeals of denials are heard by him. It must be a catastrophic incident, and consideration is given to the employee's use of their sick leave in the past. It does operate as a safety net. Mr. Dockery explained further that if an employee wishes to donate sick leave, they must match it with vacation time. If an employee simply wishes to donate vacation time, that does not have to be matched with sick leave. Mr. Leiker said this policy was put into place before his tenure as City Manager. The main reason for the vacation donation qualification is that an applicant would know that his fellow employees sacrificed to give them that valuable leave time. The majority of employees no doubt MEET&CONFER—CWF &WFFD DECEMBER 2, 2009 4 "max out" their sick leave and lose it, so donation of that time is not really a sacrifice. Non-civil service employees do not get paid sick leave when they leave their employment, so that was another reason that donation of sick leave was not viewed as a sacrifice. Mr. Dockery said that the leave bank is keeping up with the requests. It is not possible to designate to whom your donated leave is given, but when someone has a catastrophic illness/injury, their department colleagues will start donating. Indirectly, that leave is then funneled to that employee. Bobby Whiteley asked if the two bonus perfect attendance days, if given, would have to be matched with vacation. Mr. Leiker said that is already recognized as vacation, so no additional vacation time would need to be donated. Mr. Leiker asked if there were any other items. Mr. Whiteley said the team members went to countless continuing education classes to research meet and confer on their own money and personal time. They would only be requesting 10-12 days per year of Absent City Business designation to attend these conventions. It would not simply personally benefit the attendee, but the City as a whole. Granting this time would make the playing field even between the Association and Administration. They are asking for the same courtesy to be allowed to go to conventions. The playing field should be made even for the Association and the Administration. Mr. Hillner noted that the IAFF provides training on health and safety issues that the department members do not attend, as no one wants to use their own vacation time, and then come back and pull a couple of 8-hour shifts. They do have online access, but the IAFF breaks ground on Haz-Mat training. Mr. Leiker noted that a significant amount of funds are spent on training. Another position was added not too long ago to beef up the training division. There may be a way to provide that training locally. Mr. Dockery reminded the meeting attendees what has been done in recent budgets, in terms of pay and benefits: o Adjusted base pay to more accurately reflect average pay numbers; eliminated overlapping situation from rank to rank. o Increased longevity pay to equalize the 2.5% non-civil service employees receive compared to the 2% steps the civil service employees receive. o Kept up with TMRS increases the past 2 years. That will be a continuing struggle. o Added a Battalion Chief position to help with training and provide an additional promotional opportunity. Requests have not fallen on deaf ears, but there are budgetary limitations. Mr. Morton said he thought the 4A and 4B taxes were to have a sunset provision when they were passed by the electors in 1997. He said that is how it was sold to the public. Mr. Leiker said the ballot included no language regarding expiration of the tax. MEET& CONFER-CWF &WFFD DECEMBER 2, 2009 5 Mr. Morton said that the property tax was reduced 16 cents. In his view, the City lost a more flexible use of those funds, since there are restrictions on the use of 4A and 4B funds. Instead, it appears to be a slush fund for water parks and an 85-acre wasteland. Mr. Leiker said the public doesn't always understand how the budget works. Mr. Leiker said that out of the 8.25% tax, 6.25% goes to the State. The City keeps 2%; a quarter of that 2% goes to each the 4A and 4B. The rest says in the general fund. They are not diverting anything to the 4A or 4B funds. There are very clear laws on the use of 4A and 4B funds. The 4A sales tax revenue is geared toward hard-core economic development and the creation of primary jobs. The 4B funds could not have been used for fire station construction, the radio system, or the training center, had those items not been delineated on the ballot. The 4B fund allows money to be spent on projects that the 4A funds can be used for, but can also be used on quality-of-life parks projects. Councilor Glenn Barham said the City Council instructed the staff to make sure that once the Waterpark deal is closed, the public is educated as to the source of the money to make the purchase — and the fact that it will not affect anyone's property tax rate. If revenues meet projections, there will be enough money to fund not only the operation of the park, but also any necessary repairs. However, if taxes need to be raised next year, for whatever reason, the public will assume it is because of the Waterpark purchase, and that is just not the case. Councilor Barham added that when the issue of the Waterpark was brought up this summer, he and Mr. Leiker were opposed to the idea. However, once they looked further into it, the idea seemed to be able to work. He acknowledged that City staff did due diligence in investigating this opportunity, and he is comfortable with the decision. Mr. Leiker thanked everyone for attendance at today's meeting, and asked that he and Mr. Duke begin exchanging available dates in February for the March meeting. V. ADJOURN. The meeting was adjourned at 10:58 a.m.