08/13/2013 Minutes (2) CITY OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA
MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
August 13, 2013
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Grand
Island, Nebraska was conducted in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 East First Street, on
August 13, 2013. Notice of the meeting was given in the Grand Island Independent on August 7,
2013.
Mayor Jay Vavricek called the meeting to order at 8:25 p.m. The following Councilmembers
were present: Vaughn Minton, Mike Paulick, Scott Dugan, John Gericke, Peg Gilbert, Mitch
Nickerson, Julie Hehnke, Chuck Haase, Linna Dee Donaldson, and Bob Niemann. The following
City Officials were present: City Administrator Mary Lou Brown, City Clerk RaNae Edwards,
City Attorney Robert Sivick, City Treasurer and Finance Director Jaye Monter, and City
Engineer and Public Works Director John Collins.
SPECIAL ITEMS:
Health & Dental Benefits, Insurance Reserve Fund. Human Resources Director Brenda
Sutherland reported that the City provided health and dental benefits to their employees, which
was partially a self-funded plan. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska was a paid third party to
administer, pay claims and provide stop loss coverage. Currently the stop loss was $150,000 per
participant.
Ms. Sutherland stated the City's health plan experienced a heavier than usual claims year in
2012-2013, with over $6.5 million in medical and dental claims. The higher claims and the
impact of the implementation associated with Affordable Care Act influenced the higher costs
for the City's health plan for 2013-2014.
In order to slow down the rising health care costs and still offer employees a quality health care
plan, the following changes were proposed:
• Move the dental insurance to become a stand-alone voluntary benefit. Employees who
elect this benefit will pay 30% of the premium cost.
• Increase the cost of the traditional health plan benefit by 13.5% ($11.66/single/month).
• Increase will be closer to 24% ($20.34/single/month) if the same level of dental is
chosen.
• Add a more competitively priced Qualified High Deductible Health Plan with an HSA
option.
Discussed was the increase in single health coverage at $11.66/single/month. The total would be
$29.00 with the City picking up the difference.
Ms. Sutherland compared the current plan to the qualified high deductible health plan proposed
as follows:
Traditional Plan:
Page 2,City Council Study Session,August 13,2013
• Deductible: $500/$1,000
• Dr. Office Copay: $35 - $50 Specialist
• Drug Copays: $10/$25/$40/$50+20% ($100 max.)
• Maximum out of pocket(In Network): $1,800/$3,600
Qualified High Deductible Health Plan:
• Deductible: $3,000/$5,500
• Maximum out of pocket (In Network): $3,000/$5,500
• Initial seed money into HSA - $1,000 single/$2,000 family
• No increase over current premium
Ms. Sutherland explained the Health Savings Account (HSA) which was like a flex account;
allowed employees to put money into this account tax deferred and could be accumulated over
time. Reviewed were the cost to employees for health and dental insurance. Introduced was Chad
Svoboda with Strong Financial who answered questions regarding the HSA account.
It was recommended that the dental insurance continue with Delta Dental. Administrative fees
had been reduced per participating employee with a 3 year guarantee on fees. Dan Quick, 1019
Kennedy Drive, representative of the Health Committee, spoke in support of the HSA if the seed
money was adequate and not put the employee at a high risk.
Council recessed at 9:40 p.m. and reconvened at 9:50 p.m.
Finance Director Jaye Monter reviewed the Insurance Reserve Fund cash balance, Insurance
Reserve Fund claims/fees history. Also reviewed were the Health Insurance Cash Reserve, Work
Comp Insurance Cash Reserve and General Insurance Cash Reserve.
2013-2014 Proposed Budget Presentation - FTEs. Finance Director Jaye Monter reviewed the
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions included in the 2013-2014 proposed budget. A total of
12.50 FTEs were proposed in the amount of$936,000. Seven FTEs in the Police Department,
one FTE for the Metropolitan Planning Organization, two in the Public Works Department, 1/2
FTE in the Parks—HPSP, and two FTEs in the Electric Utilities Department.
Mentioned was the new array for the FOP and non-union employees for 2014 because of the
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) designation. Existing contract increases were as follows:
IAFF—2.5%, AFSCME— 1.5% and IBEW—2.75%.
Emergency Management Director Jon Rosenlund and Police Chief Steve Lamken explained their
requests for FTEs. Parks and Recreation Director Todd McCoy answered questions concerning
the hours of operation for the Heartland Public Shooting Park (HPSP) with an additional FTE.
He stated the hours would not change. Discussion was held regarding the funding for the extra
0.50 employee. Mentioned was having a fiscal policy for subsidized programs. Requested was
data from the new Lincoln Pool. Utilities Director Tim Luchsinger commented on the 2 FTEs
requested. Total cost of the additional FTEs to the City would be $936,000.
Page 3,City Council Study Session,August 13,2013
-- Councilmembers Gericke, Haase, and Gilbert stated they would like a hard copy of the budget.
City Administrator Mary Lou Brown stated the Budget in Brief would be available next week,
which was the same as last year.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
OrA 0,9.— 2-4Q • 11-
RaNae Edwards
City Clerk