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HomeMy WebLinkAbout051005 MINUTES Citizens’ Commission on Council Salaries Tel 360-473-5926 Fax 360-473-2333 239 4th Street Bremerton, WA 98337 MINUTES 05/10/05 Public Hearing/Study Session PRESENT: Chair Jim Reed, Dena Swisher, Douglas Wakefield, HR Analyst-Charlotte Belmore Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:10 PM. Election of Chairperson: Jim Reed was elected as Chairperson M/S/C/U (Swisher/Wakefield) Open for Public Input: There were no members of the public present. Discussion on Council Salaries: There was discussion on how the Commission would proceed. It was decided that they would spend the first two scheduled meetings reviewing and gathering information. If a recommendation to change Council salaries is made it would be presented at the third scheduled Public Hearing. It was mentioned that the current salary for a Council Member is not attractive to citizens who are currently working full-time. For citizens who work full-time it is like working two full-time jobs for one salary. Jim Reed stated that the job of a Council Member is a great opportunity and an enormous learning opportunity, but for anyone who isn’t financially set it isn’t attractive. He explained that when he was a Council Member they had four meetings a week, they would have Study Sessions sometimes two or three times a week, they attended Saturday retreats, during budget time they met sometimes four or five times a week. He explained that Council Members get invited to every possible outside function such as church functions, graduations, and navy functions. They have to decline most of the invitations, because if they went to them all it would be like a full- time job. He also explained that the workload of the Council President is at least thirty percent more than that of a Council Member. There was discussion regarding Council Members’ eligibility to enroll in the Public Employee’s Retirement System (PERS) and that they are eligible for some sort of retirement as long as the have five or more years of service credit. It was explained that Council Members have to earn at least 90 times the State minimum wage to earn service credit each month. In the past Council  Page 2 Members were not earning service credits because they were not making the required 90 times the State minimum wage. There was some discussion about other cities Council Members being compensated a base salary and then receiving a set amount for each meeting that the Council Member attends. Douglas Wakefield asked if Council Members were eligible for expense reimbursement. It was explained that they are eligible to be reimbursed for expenses and that they just need to submit receipts along with an employee expense reimbursement form. It was also noted that most of the time Council Members do not request reimbursement for expenses. The Commissioners stated that they felt the Commissioners should have an expense account. The Commission reviewed the Council Budget and stated that their understanding was that revenues and excise taxes were up. In the budget it looked like the City Council’s budget had been significantly increased for 2005. Jim Reed explained that he had contacted that Council Office and that it was explained that it looked like the Council budget had been increased for 2005, but that it was just a different way of assessing the funds. Money for information technology (I.T.) that was previously listed elsewhere in the budget is now listed in the individual departmental budgets. Dena Swisher stated that she felt it would be helpful if they looked at the information that came in from the Council Members and came up with an average number of hours that Council Members spend on council business each month. Charlotte stated that she could go through the information and have something ready for the next meeting. Meeting Adjourned: 7:05 PM Jim Reed, Chair Person