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Meet and Confer Minutes - 08/28/2013 MEET AND CONFER CITY OF WICHITA FALLS & WICHITA FALLS FIRE DEPARTMENT AUGUST 28, 2013 Attendees: City Administration Darron Leiker, City Manager Jim Dockery, Assistant City Manager/CFO Earl Foster, Fire Chief Jon Reese, Assistant Fire Chief Julia Vasquez, First Assistant City Attorney Tammy Guerra, Civil Service Director Linda Merrill, Recording Secretary Mayor and Council Representation Glenn Barham, Mayor Ben Hoover, Councilor District 1 International Association of Firefighters, Local 432 Chris Duncan Nick Hiliner Bobby Whiteley Rowdy Elledge 1. CALL TO ORDER. Darron Leiker called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. 2. DISCUSSION OF FIRE DEPARTMENT ISSUES Budget Bobby Whiteley said the Association members are terribly disappointed in the final budget. The compensation gap between the Wichita Falls Fire Department and comparable cities is growing. The Association implored City Administration to solve the problem. More and more fire fighters are being trained here and leave to work elsewhere because they can make a higher salary. Mr. Leiker said he made similar arguments to the City Council in discussing his preliminary budget. The Council's work is just beginning on the budget, which will not be formally adopted until September 17. The tax rate is decided by the Council, and they decided to keep it the same this year as they did not want to raise taxes on top of increasing water rates due to the drought and emergency water reuse projects. Mr. Dockery said in order to increase salaries, there would have to be a tax increase, substantial economic growth, or significant staff cuts. He is empathetic, as he is losing Tammy Guerra and a couple of senior IT tech people to higher-paying jobs. H:\ Legal\Personnel\Meet&Confer\Fire\Minutes.2006-2010\2013.8.28.Minutes.Fire.M&C.Doc MEET&CONFER—CWF&WFFD AUGUST 28, 2013 2 Mr. Whiteley said they see School District and County employees get raises; City employees are always third in line. Mr. Leiker said the State cut the School District's budget allocation last year, so the District made cuts to their workforce. This year, the State reinstated that money, so employees received a 3.5% raise. Comparing the past three years, City employees are still ahead because of the step plan. Concerning the County, there was a property valuation increase on a county-wide level. Some County departments were given money to distribute among its employees, while other employees receive state-mandated raises. The City's property tax and sales tax revenues are flat — yet health insurance, pavement costs, etc., keep increasing. It leaves the City the option of raising revenues and/or cutting expenses. He emphasized to the Council that next year something must be done. This year, he proposed quite a bit with the additional holiday, additional vacation days, 10% more longevity/stability, and the stipend. Mr. Dockery added that the Council increased the stipend from $300 to $500. Mr. Whiteley said it is hard to tell their members to wait until next year. City employees need to be the first priority one of these years, not new signs. Most people use Google Maps rather than street signs. They would like to see Administration stand up for the employees. Mr. Leiker said he is a big advocate for employees. The fact that he does not recommend a tax increase in his preliminary budget should not be misinterpreted. He gauges the Council's desire before he presents his budget, and the Council has to weigh a tax increase against what citizens could support. He added that the signage program is paid for out of funds that cannot be used for pay raises. Mr. Leiker suggested the Association members talk to their neighbors to find out how many raises they have received, and how much their pay for health insurance. The local economy is not very healthy and will not be for some time yet. Until it turns around, economic issues will continue to be a concern. Mr. Whiteley said it is not easy to swallow when other cities move forward in terms of salaries. Mr. Leiker recommended they look at the property valuations and sales tax growth of those other cities; that would help explain why they have moved ahead of Wichita Falls. The city is close to the bottom in terms of property valuation and sales tax revenue growth. Mr. Whiteley said the Association wants to work with the Administration. The majority of their members were born and raised here and want to stay. The saying at the stations is that they will leave for $15,000 but not for $5,000. Julia Vasquez replied that if these fire fighters are leaving within the first four years of their employment, the City should recoup some of those training costs. Furthermore, the City is losing employees in all departments. Mr. Leiker added that the fire department has one of the lowest turnover rates in the city, but he would like to see it lower in every department. Mr. Whiteley countered the turnover rate may be lower, but there is a bigger investment in these employees. Staffing Mr. Whiteley said staffing used to be the number one issue, but now the Association members are more concerned about pay. Mr. Leiker said that he agrees it is a priority, but the money is simply not there. MEET& CONFER-CWF &WFFD AUGUST 28, 2013 3 Mr. Whiteley said the Association has asked for six more employees at several Meet & Confer meetings (two more per shift). Mr. Leiker said the cost to increase to that minimum standard is probably $300,000 to $400,000. Mr. Dockery presumed it is cheaper to go with the full-time employees than to increase minimum staffing. Chief Earl Foster said it is cheaper, but not appreciably so, to pay the overtime rather than add more employees. Nick Hillner said the Association would agree to add one employee in 2014 (at Station 4), and one employee in 2015 (at Station 3). He added that 44% of their members have outgrown the step plan. They are so far behind on pay increases, and they recognize it will be a slow-term fix. Mr. Dockery said the City shortened a lot of steps because there were complaints that long-time fire fighters and police officers were earning more than the higher ranks because there were so many steps. Mr. Leiker said the cost to increase employees' salaries by 5°/a to 8°/a would be $2 million from the general fund on an annual basis. That would require about a five cent increase on the tax rate. Mr. Leiker said the recommended vacation enhancement should mean a lot to employees, especially when they terminate and get the extra week of pay. There will be a hefty price tag in the future for that. He reiterated that Mr. Whiteley said the Association was "terribly disappointed" in the budget. Taken collectively, he would have hoped that all the incentives offered would have elicited a better response. He acknowledged that it is not perfect, and he would like to be able to give everyone a 3°/a cost-of-living increase on top of that, but it's not possible. Mr. Whiteley agreed, but added that they Association members will again have to wait until next year and perhaps have this same conversation again. They want to fix it, but do not know how. They want to do all the good stuff. Mr. Leiker said City Administration and the City Council would say the same thing, but the economy does not allow for it at this time. Mr. Dockery urged the Association that if they do surveys of comparable cities to keep longevity pay in mind. While it is not near enough to compensate the base pay differences, it is a lot more lucrative than in other cities. He asked the Association if the number one issues are pay and people. Mr. Whiteley replied affirmatively. Chief Foster asked if that was the order of priority. Mr. Whiteley said that it was. Mr. Whiteley said that Abilene, Lubbock and Denton are hiring; Lubbock has 16 new positions. The Wichita Falls Fire Department will be seven short by the end of September. They do not want to fall much shorter than that or it starts to become a pension issue. Mr. Leiker asked the Association representatives to take back to their members that Administration understands their concerns and it is a matter of budget constraints, and the Council balancing the willingness of citizens to pay more. Mr. Whiteley said they know it is not just the fire department. They are not an entity of their own, and want to be part of the family. Mr. Leiker said the big picture shows the City facing additional water hikes for the long-term reuse project. The School District will have a bond issue in May for a sizeable amount resulting in a property tax increase. MEET& CONFER-CWF&WFFD AUGUST 28, 2013 4 Mr. Hillner asked what a one-cent tax increase would generate. Mr. Dockery replied about $450,000. A penny on a $100,000 home would cost an additional $10 a year, and a nickel would cost only $50. Mr. Leiker said they have made that same argument that anyone should be able to afford an extra $10 per year, but any increase would generate complaints. Ms. Vasquez said she hears from citizens about the increase in the water rates; the last thing they want to hear is that employees want higher salaries. Their view is that employees have jobs and health insurance. Mr. Leiker said the pension plan is another benefit to employees that generates questions to him from the public. Mr. Leiker said the City has several challenges. It must maintain the water treatment plants with minimum staffing requirements, pay for the debt service, and increase water rates to make up for the loss in revenue from water sales due to the drought. He is worried how the drought will affect economic development. There is also the worry of the federal sequestration at Sheppard Air Force Base. TxDOT wants to give Wichita Falls that portion of the highways that runs through the town, which would add $1 to $4 million in maintenance costs per year. These are interesting times, and Administration will do the best they can. Ms. Vasquez said that the people who treat our water are some of the most important employees in the City and they do not get paid as well as they should. They have to go to school and maintain licenses, and it is difficult to keep those jobs staffed. Ms. Guerra said they can go to work for other cities or even the private sector. Mr. Whiteley said he has not polled his membership, but he is confident that 99.9% of the Association would agree that Tammy Guerra has been the best Civil Service Director in their history. She had an open door policy, was positive, and common-sense oriented. They hate to see her leave. Ms. Guerra thanked him for his comments. Mayor Glenn Barham said that at the first budget session, he made a strong stand that the pay situation will be addressed next year. He will continue to make that stand. Either positions will be cut or taxes will be raised. Next year's budget will address it, either phased in or in one fell swoop. Chief Foster said he can support the Association, as they are not making unreasonable requests. If they need help gathering data or putting together a plan, they just have to ask. Mr. Whiteley thanked Mayor Barham and Councilor Hoover for their attendance. 3. ADJOURN Mr. Leiker thanked everyone for their time. The meeting adjourned at 2:41 p.m.