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08-17-2005 VC B WS-MMINUTES OF THE BUDGET WORKSHOP SESSION VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST 17, 2005 Present: Dr. Edward M. Eissey, Mayor David B. Norris, Vice Mayor Charles R. O'Meilia, Councilman Robert F. Rennebaum, President Pro Tem Donald G. Noel, Councilman Mark Bates, Village Manager Melissa Teal, CMC, Village Clerk ROLL CALL Mayor Eissey called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. All members of Council were present. All members of staffwere present, except the Village Attorney. COUNTRY CLUB BUDGET FY 2005-2006 Discussion took place concerning the pay range for the position of Country Club Director. Consensus of Council was to approve the Village Manager's recommendation for pay grade 28. Discussion was held concerning a 3-tier rate system and the level of resident discount. Council consensus was fora 15% resident discount. Discussion ensued on membership cards backed by a credit card. Discussion took place regarding the point of sale system. Mr. Bates advised that funds in the current budget will be used to procure hardware for the point of sale system, and funds to install the software and provide training will come from the 2005-2006 budget. Discussion took place regarding transfer of the pool operation from the Country Club Enterprise Fund to the General Fund. The pool manager position will no longer be a contractor position. Council consensus was to move the pool operation to the General Fund budget. Brief discussion ensued on budgeted improvements to the Country Club parking lot. The meeting recessed at 8:50 p.m. and reconvened at 9:00 p.m. GENERAL FUND BUDGET Assistant Village Manager Doug Smith reviewed the Village's pay plan. Mr. Smith discussed a comparison of the mid/control point of pay plan benchmark jobs with regard to the Village's previous pay study and the market average. Discussion was held concerning the cost of living adjustment (COLA) and the consumer price index (CPI). Mr. Smith reported on the April 2005 CPI for certain indexes used in the past to determine COLA. Council consensus was to use the All Urban Consumers index and approve a COLA of 3.5%. Brief discussion ensued on the range for merit pay increases and consensus of Council was to approve a range of 0 - 4 %. Brief discussion took place concerning budgeting a $100,000 addition to the designated unappropriated fund balance. Council consensus was to delete this from the proposed budget. MINUTES OF BUDGET WORKSHOP SESSION HELD AUGUST 17, 2005 Discussion was held on the increase in insurance costs through the Southeast Risk Management Association (SERMA). Discussion ensued on the valuation of Village facilities. Mr. Bates reported that further talks with SERMA will be held. Mr. Bates briefly discussed seeking grants for capital improvements to the pool, FRDAP grants, and the impact to the proposed budget. Discussion took place regarding an increase in Council compensation. Council consensus was to keep compensation at the present rate. Mr. Bates recommended the creation of an HR Manager position at pay grade 27, as an alternative to hiring a new Assistant Village Manager. Mr. Bates estimated that this change would save $20,000. Brief discussion took place on the position of HR Specialist, and it was clarified that the proposed salary listed includes the cost of benefits. Discussion ensued on the practice of budgeting at the mid-point of the salary range for vacant positions. Mr. Bates discussed the need to have two people working together to perform the HR function, and noted that the money saved by replacing the Assistant Manager position would be used to help offset the cost of the HR Specialist position. The Council approved replacing the position of Assistant Village Manager with an HR Manager and HR Specialist. The Council agreed to downsize a 3/4 ton truck for Public Services to a 1 /2 ton truck. Discussion was held on the IT position. Mr. Bates recommended changing the contract position for IT back to a staffposition. Council consensus was in favor of an in-house IT person. Discussion took place concerning tying employee evaluations to the anniversary of the hire date. Mr. Bates requested that his evaluation be done on his anniversary date. Mr. Smith described a phase-in method for the first year as follows: upon evaluation, an employee would receive a merit increase from that date forward through the rest of the year, and would receive a lump sum payment of the evaluation increase which would cover the period from October 1st to the evaluation date. Mr. Smith recommended that this be effective only for employees who had been with the Village at least one year as of September 30th. By consensus, the Council approved evaluating all employees on the anniversary date, using the first-year phase-in method. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. . ~--_ Melissa Teal, CMC Village Clerk 2